My Shining Knight
by ScrubRose
Summary: Dreams are strange, they can confuse and influence our actions. Would you follow your recurring dreams, or just push them aside?Syrus/Oc. No likey,no Readie is all I have to say.T maychange.
1. The Scholarship is Accepted

_Ok, this is my first X-over I've ever done, so I hope it works. I've got GX manga books; so if some things here are different to the T.V series, please don't have a go at me. I'm really trying, and hope the GX fandom will accept me as the TMNT one did. If ya wanna criticise, go ahead, as long as you do so politely. If ya flame me/ review rudely, I will just ignore you. Respect me and I'll respect you. Right, now that's out of the way, let's start chapter one! It's so exciting!!!!!  
_

* * *

The tri-coloured domed roofs of Duel Academy glinted like bright duels in the rosy evening rays. Chancellor Sheppard sat in his office, waiting for one of his staff to come to an arranged meeting. He flipped through his deck absent-minded, and presently there was a sharp rap at the door.

"Come in Dr. Crowler." He called, and said teacher entered, placing his fragile looking figure on a seat in front of him.

"I understand this is a continuation of our conversation this morning Vellian?" Dr. Crowler nodded as he replied,

"Yes, the hospital faxed me the results of my sister's tests. She is to be hospitalised until further notice for them to be sure."

The chancellor sighed in empathy, "I give you my condolences Vellian, it must be difficult."

"Very, considering she has two children with no-one to look after them, except for me. I'm asking if you will allow them to become students here, as long as their mother's in hospital. Would that be possible?"  
Chancellor Sheppard looked at the two reports he had in front of him. He stood up and paced slightly, stopping at a glass box, containing a duel disk, and fingered the box, saying,  
"It would be no problem for the elder of the two, Madison was it? … She's old enough for a scholarship here, however, the younger one… Kara, she's far to young. I'm not sure it would be wise." Vellian joined him at the glass case,

"Let me assure you, she is very mature for her age, and is probably more adept at duelling than many students here, and certainly more than her elder sister."

"How so?"

"Madison has not properly duelled for many years, she has become a pokemon co-ordinator and trains to become a nurse like her mother, while Kara has shown more interest in duelling."

"Hmn. I see," Sheppard mused, re-taking his seat, linking his fingers together on top of the reports, "If that is the case, Kara will have a greater chance of integrating with the freshmen."

Crowler made to leave, then turned round again, "Madison has pokemon that she loves like students love their decks. Would they be allowed too?" Sheppard debated for a minute,

"I don't see why not, as long as they don't cause any problems."

Crowler smiled, somewhat psychotically, and bowed his way out of the room. Sheppard turned back to the two reports, studying the two girls in sailor style school uniforms.

"I hope you fit in Madison and Kara Joy."

_Well, that's it for chapter 1. Sorry, Crowler might seem OOC, but he's gotta have a heart somewhere in there, hasn't he? And I like him having a family he cares for, even if he hates to show it, lol! So, I have this chapter done, and half of chapter two which, creativity permitting, should be up tomorrow. What else? Oh, the next chapter features Beyonce's "Sweet Dream", so fun stuff! Please review peeps. This is Rhia, signing out! _


	2. Sweet Dream, or a Beautiful Nightmare?

_Well, heres chapter 2, and I'd just like to dedicate this chapter to Emily, Jeremie and Max. You TOTALLY ROCK! :)_

* * *

She was returning to the dream. The dark woods loomed overhead as she ran, caring not for the ominous clouds. "Where is he?" Maddie thought, "He's usually here by now-" She stopped, and hid behind a tree.

_Every night I rush to my bed  
With hopes that maybe I'll get a chance to see you  
When I close my eyes I'm going out of my head  
Lost in a fairytale, can you hold my hands and be my guide?_

_Heavy hooves clumped softly on the loam as a huge horse, shining with battle armour materialized through the thick fog. The knight astride it stopped his horse level with the tree. His dragon-like visor turned and he observed Madison with one visible quicksilver eye. The horse anxiously skittered, snorting uneasily._

_Clouds filled with stars cover the skies  
And I hope it rains; you're the perfect lullaby  
What kinda dream is this?_

_You could be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare  
Either way I don't wanna wake up from you  
(Turn the lights on)_

The knight urged his steed into a nervous trot. Madison knew what she was going to do next, although it was against her nature.

"Wait, please!" she called, running after him, holding her hands out beseechingly. Curiously, he stopped, turning to look at her, before moving on. Every so often, he would order his impatient mount to halt, and when Maddie was within touching distance of the horse's rump he would trot on again without a word.

_Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare  
Somebody pinch me, your love's too good to be true  
(Turn the lights on)_

_My guilty pleasure, I ain't going no where  
Baby long as you're here I'll be floating on air  
'Cause you're my_

_You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare  
Either way I don't wanna wake up from you  
(Turn the lights on)  
_

As he led her out of the wood, the moonlight caught the duel disk on his metal clad left arm, throwing rainbow light across the field before them. Promptly, the knight dismounted and walked outward into the field, motioning for Maddie to stay with his horse. Maddie knew she'd wake up if she didn't.

_I mention you when I say my prayers  
I wrap you around all of my thoughts  
Boy you're my temporary high_

_I wish that when I wake up you're there  
To wrap your arms around me for real  
And tell me you'll stay by side_

_Clouds filled with stars cover the skies  
And I hope it rains, you're the perfect lullaby  
What kinda dream is this?  
_

She lost sight of him, as she had countless times before, and waited for the signal. The stallion stamped his foot impatiently, whinnying to his unseen master. Suddenly, a blinding flash of white light emanated from a hill in the distance, and Madison began to run towards it. She got there quicker than she would have in the real world, but the world of dreams is a very strange, jumbled place.

_You could be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare  
Either way I don't wanna wake up from you  
(Turn the lights on)_

_Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare  
Somebody pinch me, your love's too good to be true  
(Turn the lights on)_

_My guilty pleasure, I ain't going no where  
Baby long as you're here I'll be floating on air  
'Cause you're my_

_You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare  
Either way I don't wanna wake up from you  
(Turn the lights on)  
_

Madison stared at the duel taking place, her knight's armour taking a fierce beating from the shadow's monsters. The night stared at Maddie beseechingly, begging her to come no further. She stopped, crouching low in the long wild grasses, tears beading on her lashes.

The shadow laughed menacingly, "With my dragon, I shall rip through your armour like tissue paper!" The knight merely bowed his head in a noble fashion, waiting for the opponent to strike. The shadow sucked in as much air as possible, then bellowed, "ATTACK MY DRAGON! ATTAAAAACK!" The great black creature gave a low, guttural roar; raising itself up on its back legs, leathery wings thrumming dangerously. It threw back its head and blew hot, fiery air at the brave knight, enveloping him completely. His armour began to strain, falling off his body in scraps.

_Tattoo your name across my heart  
so it will remain  
Not even death can make us part  
What kind of dream is this?_

Madison could take it no longer,

"Save yourself!" she cried, tears spilling down her cheeks, the hot air from the dragon causing her hair to frazzle as it flew out behind her. The metal gauntlets fractured and fell as he turned his head, a single, fat tear threatening to fall from his grey eyes. As his helmet began to disintegrate, he called to Madison softly, though it resonated round the corridors of her mind.

"I will find you, trust in me my love, I will find you!"

_You could be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare  
Either way I don't wanna wake up from you  
(Turn the lights on)_

_Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare  
Somebody pinch me, your love's too good to be true  
(Turn the lights on)_

_My guilty pleasure, I ain't going no where  
Baby long as you're here I'll be floating on air  
'Cause you're my_

_You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare  
Either way I don't wanna wake up from you  
(Turn the lights on)  
Either way I don't wanna wake up from you_Just as his helmet was to disappear and reveal his identity…

"ARGH!" Madison screeched as Pichu landed on her stomach, causing her to fall to the wooden floor with a bump. Rubbing her backside, she pulled back the curtains to allow the sunshine to flow through her bedroom window.

"Pichu, what have I told you about leaping on sleeping people?" The little black and yellow creature rocked on its back, uttering a squeaky "Pichu. Pi- Pichu!" and placing its paws behind its ears in a cute way. Maddie giggled, ruffled his stomach, and ambled down the stairs to make breakfast, chapping her sister's door on the way, "c'mon Kara! We don't want to be late for the train!"

The kitchen was a bright, homely place, with bright gingham curtains, a rough wooden table, patchwork tablecloth and several bowls on the floor. Maddie looked in the fridge, and decided the best breakfast for today would be pancakes. The stove was still off limits since the gas in the village was turned off, so Maddie used a different method.

"Chimchar, use tail-flame!" she called, whipping a red-and silver sphere out of her pocket. The small ochre monkey burst from its pokeball and made its flame tale emit a few sparks before placing her tail beneath the pan. Within minutes, the pancakes were ready. Tossing a poffin to Chimchar in thanks, she yelled, "breakfast!" then turned as her sister entered the kitchen.

Kara brushed her espresso brown hair into a loose bun, avoiding her wolf ears as best she could. Clipping her star sign necklace (Taurus) about her neck, she seated herself demurely at the table, eating what she was given. When she'd finished, her Riolu hopped onto her knee, and she brushed his head with a soft brush.

"Thank-you Maddie," she said, turning her ocean blue eyes upwards to her sister's soft oval face, "you should be getting dressed. I'll put the pokemon in storage." Maddie nodded, passing the dirty plates to her Squirtle, who cleaned them briskly, receiving a poffin for his troubles. Kara stood up, smoothing down her grey tunic, fingering the artful rips and tears at the bottom, then placed her hands into her black, kick flare jeans, padding to the storage room, placing pokemon into their balls as she went to the storage facility. After placing her mother's Chancey into her pokeball, somewhat irritated, she went to the porch and sat to tie on her low wedge heels. Kara was only eight, but she was pretty small for her age, with pale porcelain skin that glittered in the sun. She heard her sister coming down the stairs, and turned to observe her.

Madison had changed out of her pyjamas, and now wore a pair of red ¾ length trousers, a white Raichu embellished t-shirt and a pair of white sneakers. Her Pitchu rested on her shoulder as she pulled her suitcase out to the front.

"Shouldn't you put Pichu in his pokeball?" she asked, clutching her Riolu to her like a doll, holding him under the oxters.

"You never put Riolu in his." Maddie replied, taking Kara's bag from her.

"That's because Riolu dislikes travelling inside that ball, isn't that right Riolu?" The wolf-like pokemon looked up at her and uttered an embarrassed "Riiiii". Maddie locked the door to the pokemon centre and she and Kara headed for the local train station. After a conversation with the ticket officer (whose bulbasaur was currently in storage) about her welfare, they boarded the train.

Several hours were to pass by in boredom, Madison pulled out her new manga novel, while Kara played with her deck.

Eventually, the train came to the end of the line, and they disembarked, stepping into the big city. It was so crowded and busy; Maddie felt crushed, and couldn't breathe with fear. Even Kara, who was fine in large cities, felt a little claustrophobic, holding Riolu tighter. Maddie read the small map her uncle had sent her before motioning to Kara, "C'mon. We need to go up the high street, and head for the docks."

It was half past five by the time the two girls had found the boat that would take them to the academy, and were thankful that it hadn't left without them. The skipper called jubilantly to the girls, "We'd wondered what was keeping you girls! It's time we were off!" No sooner had they sat down, when the boat stuttered into life, chugging through the water in time to her master's raucous singing. Kara once again pulled out her deck, and struck up a conversation with a girl next to her about cards.

Madison twirled a piece of bubblegum pink hair around her finger, looking about her. She sighed; she hadn't duelled for years, and didn't know much about it either. Her forte was pokemon, and she doubted anyone at the academy would know what one was, let alone seen one. Pichu sensed his owners' anxieties, rubbing against her cheek. "Hey, Pichu." She murmured, kissing the pokemon's tufted forehead. Several people on the boat stared at Pichu, through no fault of their own, and it greatly upset Maddie. She didn't even know why she felt so upset, so she brought out Raichu to make her feel better. It certainly worked. At the sight of the huge orange version of Pichu, several looked positively freaked out and turned away to look out at the waves. All too soon, the journey came to an end, and the boat pulled into the dock of a huge island. Kara sniffed the air, hugging Riolu even tighter. Maddie knew Kara was scared, but wasn't going to show it. Putting on her best smile, she began to walk up to find the chancellor's office, her pokemon trailing behind her like a brood of ducklings.

**_Ultra Special Blah Blah number 1!_**

Wicked, the first blah blah for my newest story. FUN STUFF! I'd like to thank jadenlover246 for her kind review, so I'd like to dedicate this entire story to her, as she's been a pillar of strength, and encouragement for me to write this. Soooooooo… I'll try to update this as often as I can, but I've Jenna Smith to do too. I'll probably do one update each week for each story until the Christmas holidays, but if I have a sudden urge to write, the updates may be more frequent. I have lots of drawing and studying to do, so this is like my break from all that jazz!

Maddie: Review peeps! ^_~


	3. The First Evening

_Here's chapter 3! ^_^_

It was twilight as Maddie and Kara walked up to Chancellor Sheppard's office, where they were kindly re-directed to their uncles' office in the Obelisk Blue sector. Even though he wasn't in, they knew they would be allowed to sit and wait for him to come, so they made themselves comfortable. Madison sat in one of the blue velvet chairs, while Kara favoured kneeling on the floor, Riolu dozing in her lap. Within fifteen minutes, Dr. Vellian Crowler entered, his coat tails sweeping behind him. Kara stared wide-eyed.  
"He's really let himself go," she thought. Riolu looked up and squeaked, hiding behind the desk. Maddie looked searchingly at him, then beamed as he smiled at them.  
"I'm so glad you've made it safely Maddie, Kara. I'm so happy to see you."  
"Yes. It has been a long time, Vellian-oji-kun." Kara replied, dragging Riolu into her lap, clutching to him slightly apprehensively. Vellian sat down behind his desk, placing his chin on his hands.  
"Due to Amelia's unforeseen situation, you are to enrol for however long she shall be absent, and return home for the summer. Now, Kara, as you have more experience, and better test results, you will be placed in Ra-Yellow. Maddie, I'm afraid you've been away from duelling for so long, you're going to have to start back at the beginning again, and we've had to place you in…Slifer Red." He practically chocked out the last two words.  
"Now, I've devised your timetables and I got maps of the campus, though if you need help, don't hesitate to ask one of the Obelisk or third year students. You'll be able to pick up your uniforms tomorrow at four. Ok?" The two girls nodded, and Vellian absentmindedly patted Riolu, who looked incredibly weirded out by the whole thing.  
"I expect you to work hard while you are with us girls, especially you Maddie, having to mix with those Slifer Slackers, however, I know you won't lower to their lazy lolly-gagging."  
"Nice alliteration Uncle V" Maddie smiled.  
"Why thank-you dear-ENTER!" Vellian called, immediately shifting from his kind, maternal face to one of pure coldness, as a soft knock was heard on the door. Two boys came in. One was wearing the Ra Yellow uniform, with slicked back black hair, while the other, slightly shorter one wore the Slifer Red uniform, with his messy chocolate brown bangs flopping adorably about his face with each step. They both wore identical, warm smiles on their faces. Vellian handed his two nieces their maps, timetables and a little card entitling them to not wear the uniform without hindrance.  
"Right, Kara, this is Bastion Misawa, who'll show you to the Ra Yellow dorms, and Madison, you'll be going with Jaden." Vellian seemed to snort Jaden's name, obviously disgusted.  
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Kara!" Maddie smiled, hugging her sister. Kara returned the comment and followed Bastion, her Riolu scrutinising him as they walked.

Jaden and Maddie began to walk away into the darkness, headed for the Slifer Dorms.  
"So you're Madison Joy right?" Jaden asked, pulling at one of his sleeves.  
"Yeah," Maddie smiled, "but call me Maddie."  
"Sweet!" Jaden grinned. They walked on for a bit in silence, when Maddie asked,  
"So…what's it like in Slifer? I mean, are there other girls? Is everyone nice? What's Proff. Banner like? What-"  
"Whoa! Slow down Maddie!" Jaden laughed, "First off, being in Slifer's fun. Sure, ya might not be able to do some of the things you could in Ra or Obelisk, but it's not a bad as others make out. Professor Banner's really friendly, and so's everyone else, but…well…" He kinda trailed off, rubbing his neck.  
"Well what?" Maddie prompted.  
"You're the only girl in Slifer. They're mostly in Obelisk, with a few in Ra. So your kinda the odd one out here. In a nice way, of course!" he quickly added, trying not to offend her. Maddie chuckled, putting Jaden at ease.  
"I was gonna be the odd one out here anyway. Truth be told, I don't know how to duel."  
"WHA-?!" Jaden almost yelled, doing one of those falls that only seem to happen in anime and manga.  
"Well, what I mean is I haven't duelled since I last saw Uncle V, and that was about ten years ago."  
"Uncle V?"  
"Yup, Uncle Vellian."  
"You mean Professor Crowler is you and Kara's uncle?"  
Maddie nodded slowly, not sure what he was getting at.  
"Yeeah." She said, drawing out the word. Jaden merely placed a hand onto her shoulder and looked at her seriously.  
"I'm sooooo sorry for you." At this statement, Maddie was even more confused, but brushed it aside as the dorms came into view.

The Slifer Red 'C' block that Maddie was staying in was an eight room shed-like building, split into two levels. Jaden helped her yank her suitcase up the stairs and pointed to the first door, "That's mine and Sy's room," they continued to the penultimate door from the end, "and this is yours." Madison opened the door into a dark room. Flicking the switch, she could now observe what was to be her home for the year. It wasn't as bad as she'd first thought. There was a three-person bunk bed at the back, a rough wooden desk, chair, a small television and a small hob/sink area.  
"There's a bathroom through there," Jaden said, gesturing to another door, "we have a communal bathroom, but as you're the only girl, it was decided that you should have this room."  
"That was nice of them." Maddie mused, her Pitchu leaping from her shoulder to rest in the middle bunk. Jaden shuffled for a minute before grinning,  
"So, I'll leave ya to unpack. Dinners in half an hour. See you." And left Maddie alone, say for her pokemon.  
Maddie unzipped the bulkiest compartment, containing three large pokeballs.

"Chimchar, Squirtle, Raichu! Come on out!" Rainbow coloured swirls formed the three pokemon, who were astounded by their new surroundings. Maddie giggled as she watched them pad about, helping to place things away. The last item was the family photo. She placed it on the desk, next to her laptop, and sighed longingly at the photo. "When can we be together again?" She still had some turkey sandwiches from the journey, and felt tired, so she decided to skip dinner, feed her pokemon and go to bed.

**Running at the same time…**

Kara decorously trotted beside Bastion, learning about her teachers from her timetable with him. Riolu walked on the other side of him, gazing up at him in awe. When Kara came to her room, Riolu tugged gently at her tunic.  
"What is it Riolu?" She asked.  
"Ri-rii-riolu. Riii" He replied, glancing at Bastion as he did so.  
"What did Riolu say?" Bastion asked, his British accent coming across quizzically.  
"Riolu says he likes you." Kara answered, giving Bastion a rare smile.  
"Wow. Um…thanks, I guess. Dinners at seven, so you'll get to meet everyone then. I'll come at five to ok?"  
Kara nodded, turned the knob and entered her room to unpack.

**Back with Maddie!**

Her pokemon had been put to bed, and were snuffling every now and then, Maddie writing an e-mail to her friend Shara back in Blossom Town, when there was a knock on her door. Saving the e-mail for later, she crossed and opened the door a crack, then fully as she recognised her caller.

"Hey Jaden! What's up?"  
"We didn't see you at dinner. Proff. Banner was worried."  
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that I wasn't that hungry, so I thought I would stay here. I should've said something."  
Jaden waved airily, "Nah, it's ok. But everyone wanted to meet you. Sy and me were going to have a card duel in our dorm. Would you like to come?"  
Maddie looked at her sleeping pokemon. They wouldn't miss her.  
"Ok. As long as I don't have to do anything." She giggled.  
"Sure, c'mon!" Jaden laughed, almost skipping as she walked to his dorm.  
"Hey Sy! I'm back, and I brought Maddie to meet you!" he cried, stepping in the doorway. Maddie peered round to meet the boy in question.  
"Maddie, this is Syrus, Syrus, this is Madison- but she prefers Maddie!" he said, the last part in an undertone. Syrus got up from his kneeling position to shake Maddie's hand.

Syrus wore the same Red uniform as Jaden, yet his jacked seemed to swamp his upper body, the sleeves appearing to have been rolled up a few times, creating a thick cuff. The same applied to the bottom of his jeans. His turquoise blue hair fuzzed out in wild, fluffy spikes, his bangs framing is cute face. Behind the small circular windows of his glasses, his quicksilver eyes radiated kindness, with a slight shyness to them. Never the less, he did not seem shy as he spoke softly.  
"Pleased to meet you Maddie."  
"Likewise Sy." Maddie smiled sweetly.  
Madison sat in the middle of them, watching them duel, asking as many questions as possible. After what seemed like hours, Maddie quitted the room and left for bed.

**Authoresses' BLAH BLAH Number…2!**

Huzza! I finally managed to get chapter 3 done! I've been so damn lazy, sorry everybody. A lot of crazy stuff's been happening around here. I've just got to colour the 'Tainted Angel' and Demitri pictures then scan them, so they're almost done! HORAY!!!! Well, anyway, I need some reviews to make myself feel better, so click that lil' green and white button at the bottom of the screen. Go on! Ya know ya want to! ^_~


	4. Uniform Woes, and a shocking new 'do

Jeez I'm lazy. In fact, no I'm not. I've had chemistry, Math and English work to deal with, and I'm on work experience next week, and I had a concert to rehearse, so I've been busy, not lazy…right, I've had my rant, here's chapter 4 ^_^.

The next morning was a Saturday, luckily for Maddie and Kara, for it meant they wouldn't be getting lost finding their classes just yet.

Being an early riser, Maddie sat cross-legged on the floor, half dressed in her pyjamas and her underwear, practicing her chemistry equations fro Monday, as she had chemistry with Proff. Banner first thing.

"Ok, number of Moles equals Mass used divided by gram formula mass, so that's 36g divided by GFM of CO (28) so that makes… no, that's not right. It's CO2! That makes the GFM 44!" She ripped out the notepaper, tossing it to Chimchar, who flamed it and placed the ashes into the bin.

"Right, let's start again…" Maddie mumbled all her directions to herself, before deciding that it was no good to work on these calculations with an empty stomach. So, she finished dressing, dragged a brush through her hair, placed her pokemon back into their balls, and left her room to find breakfast. The map she'd been given yesterday wasn't that detailed, and before she knew it, she was lost.

"Oh dear," she grumbled, "I knew I should've gone to dinner last night. I wouldn't be lost now." She was broken out of her own self-annoyance by a pair of arms, which wrapped about her shoulders, pulling her into a hug.

"Good morning Maddie! Sleep well?" Maddie could tell by Jaden's voice that he was grinning.

"Yeah thanks," She said, turning, "Hey Sy!" she waved to the bluenette behind Jaden, who mouthed his greeting back.

"What're you doing all the way out here Maddie?" Jaden asked, suddenly serious.

"Looking for the canteen."

"Well, its back that way," Syrus pointed.

"But it says on the map-" she started, but Jaden cut across, grabbing the map,

"Jeez, how old is this thing? That's where the canteen used to be, but it burned down 18 months ago, so they re-built it closer to the dorms."

"Oh, right," Maddie replied, falling in step with the two boys, "I thought it was strange that it was all the way out here."

The Slifer Canteen was by far the best looking building the Slifers had, seeing as it was the newest thing there. Jaden, Maddie and Syrus sat down on one of the many benches after going through the painstaking choice of choosing breakfast.

"Note to self," Maddie thought, turning up her nose at the rubbery porridge and cremated toast, "make your own breakfast in the mornings." The pasta soup looked all right, so Maddie decided to risk death and eat some. It was surprisingly better tasting than it looked.

" So," Syrus asked, stirring the lumps out of his porridge, "What subjects do you have Maddie?" She stared at the sky, reciting her subjects,

"I've got Math, Chemistry, Duel History, Duel Design and Technology, and Duelling-The practical and tactical skills." Jaden lifted his head out of his bowl for a moment, "Who do you get for math?"

"Miss Mc Taggart."

Jaden grinned, "Sweet, we'll be in the same class!" then returned to eating at a crazed pace.

"If you've got Proff. Banner for Chemistry and Ms. Hibiki for Duel Design-Tech then we'll share classes too." Syrus smiled.

"That'd be great!" Maddie smiled, then faltered, "Well, I mean it'd be great to know at least one person in mah classes. I'll probably see Kara in Duelling."

They put their trays into the holders to go for washing and began to walk back to their dorms, when Jaden said,

"You know, that map of yours is totally bogus. You'll walk into English thinking its Chemistry, so… why don't me and Sy show you round?"

"Oh, that'd be good." Maddie nodded, "It's not a great map as you say, and I get lost easily."

The day wore on, until she suddenly had a feeling she was supposed to be elsewhere.

"Guuuuys," she said, "What time is it?"

"Five to Four. Why?" Jaden said, flicking between Maddie and his watch.

Maddie clapped her hands to her cheeks. "Oh Nooooooo! I was supposed to be picking up my uniform ten minutes ago!" and she took off.

"WAIT!" Syrus called after her, "Miss. Dorothy's is _that_ way!" Maddie did a hairpin turn, Dashing past them in the other direction, screaming,

"Thanks! OH MY GOD! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" What she didn't notice was that two little pokeballs fell from her pocket, re-sizing themselves to a hands-width.

Jaden picked one up, yelling, "MADDIE! YOU DROPPED YOU'RE- actually, what are these?" Syrus picked the other one up,

"I don't know, but I don't think we should do anything with them." Jaden nodded, and then suddenly had a bright idea, "Hey, why don't we put it on the ground and see what it does!" Without waiting for Syrus' reply, he half dropped, half placed it on the ground. The pokeball almost exploded, opening up to spew forth Raichu. He sat there, staring about in confusion. _Where was Maddie?_ He looked round at Jaden, who grinned,

"Hey there…um…fluffy, can I call you fluffy? Urm…You fell outta Maddie's' pocket, so if you wouldn't mind going back in the ball…" He held it up to Raichu, and things went wrong. Raichu thought Jaden was trying to steal him, so he let forth a massive bolt of electricity, making Jaden shudder and fall over, smoking slightly. Syrus panicked, not knowing whether to help Jaden, or to try and catch the…what ever it was, and that hesitation was all that Raichu needed. He began to dig into the ground, dirt flying everywhere. Jaden came round, his hair sticking out in mad spikes, just in time to see Raichu's backside disappearing into the hole he had created. Jaden had absolutely no idea what he was doing, but found himself actually trying to widen the hole and follow the Raichu, crying, "Please come back!" Raichu only dug harder and faster. The pokeball Syrus had, what with all the commotion, opened too, revealing Chimchar. She stared at a mortified Syrus, deliberating what to do. Jaden had now completely disappeared into the ground. Chimchar smiled and with a "Chimmmm Char!" launched herself at Syrus, hugging him tightly.

Meanwhile, down at the card shop…

Maddie panted as she reached the little shop. Pulling the doors open, she cried, "I'm so-pant-sorry I'm late-pant- you see, I-pant-lost track of time!"

"Oh that's ok dearie! Come right on in while I finish this seam," Miss. Dorothy called from the back of the little shop. Miss. Dorothy was a short middle-aged woman in a yellow shirt and dark blue overalls. Her braided brown hair fwipped as she moved her head to give Maddie a re-assuring smile (difficult as her mouth was full of pins). On a small stool stood Kara in the Ra Yellow uniform, looking extremely bothered. Miss. Dorothy snipped the edge of the tiny yellow skirt with her trusty pinking shears, stood up and smiled serenely at her.

"Which dorm hon'?" she asked.

"Slifer Red Ma'am." Miss. Dorothy laughed sweetly,

"Call me Miss. Dorothy dear. And I'll be back in a flash!" and she was gone in the blink of an eye. Kara turned to her sister, not leaving the stool.

"What do you think Maddie?" Madison walked around Kara critically, observing the vest, heavily modified as it would normally have hugged a students curves, whereas Kara had angles and flat planes, the short skirt, gloves and boots in their curry yellow and sliver colours.

"Well?" Kara asked impatiently. Maddie scrunched up one eye, as if trying to lessen her disgust.

"I knew it," Kara replied sadly, staring at Riolu, who patted her foot sympathetically.

"No, no Kara. It's very becoming of you. Yellow is definitely your colour," Maddie said, waving her hands about wildly.

"Hmn. That's what Miss. Dorothy told me," Kara half laughed, then sighed, the sparkle in her eyes dimming, "But I only feel comfortable in black, and white at a pinch… I'm sorry my sister."

"Kara, I know it's hard to let go, believe me, but sometimes it's for the best. You shouldn't punish yourself." Maddie consoled, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder,

"If it makes you more comfortable, I'll speak with uncle. V about it, 'kay?" Kara hugged her sister tightly, who jumped as a pin spiked her.

"Um, Madison," Miss. Dorothy said, re-entering with a box, "I'm sorry to tell you that we never really expected to have a female Slifer, so we never ordered the uniform in the style Kara's wearing. However, I did find the style we had before they changed them. If you want, you could try it on to see how it feels." She held up a white box, grey with dust, somewhat apologetically.

"M'kay!" Maddie smiled, totally fine with this revelation, and went into the back room to change. She re-entered five minutes later and observed herself in the mirror.

The old uniform was not too different from the new style. The vest was just as tight, though it had a bow in the sailor collar instead of the collar and had loose sleeves that came half way down the upper arm, the skirt was ever so slightly longer, there was a pair of sliver-white, over knee socks with red ribbon edging, and a red hair ribbon that bowed a the back.. The uniform still had the same boots and gloves.

"Oh Madison! You look so cute! Like Little Miss. Slifer." Miss. Dorothy spazzed, grinning in a pensive way, "Now, is there anything else? Oh, yes" she clapped her hands and disappeared behind the counter. She was back in no time with two standard issue duel disks and two small devices.

"Here are your duel disks!" she presented them with a flourish. Maddie felt her cheeks flame, she wasn't sure what to do with the silver object. Kara already had one, but she took it anyway to save herself from saying something stupid. "And these are your communicators. You can make calls to anyone here at the DA. But I'm afraid only here. But not only that, it can also access the Internet and it's a radio iPod! Yellow for Kara and Red for Madison." Kara clipped hers to her belt, while Maddie got changed again and folded her clothes, the duel disk and the communicator into the dress box. She clutched it to her chest, feeling slightly nervous. What would people think of the new uniform? Would her uncle allow Kara to continue to wear black? "I'll ask Raichu." She reached into her pocket, and found only two pokeballs. "That's odd," she thought, rooting deeper into the pocket, "Where's Raichu and Chimchar? Oh My God! I've lost them on this HUGE Island!" she walked back to Kara, distressed.

"What's wrong Maddie?" Kara asked. "I've lost Raichu and Chimchar," she whispered. Kara's eyes widened. "Riolu." She barked. The pokemon stood to attention and saluted, "Trace Raichu and Chimchar please." Riolu nodded, sat cross-legged and began to meditate. Within three minutes, his ears pricked to the door, where Syrus burst in, being pursued by Chimchar. When the pokemon saw her master, she squealed and leapt into Maddie's arms. Sy explained what had happened. Maddie couldn't help but giggle,

"I'm afraid Raichu's ever such a scaredy cat. She'll calm down eventually. Take me there, and I'll deal with this. Kara, could you drop off mah uniform at my dorm please? Ok, let's go Sy."

* * *

"Ah, it's the cavalry! HUZZAH!" Jaden cried as he climbed out the hole, looking rather like a mud monster. Raichu peeped his nose out, squeaking. Maddie looked at Jaden's 'new hair-do', "Did Raichu shock you?"

"Yeah, but it was only a little one, didn't even hurt!" Jaden grinned, squeezing muddy water out his t-shirt. Maddie was livid. "RAICHU! YOU GET YOU'RE SCAREDY-CAT BUTT OUT HERE!" Raichu dived back in the hole quivering,

"N.O.W! RAICHU!" Jaden interceded on Raichu's behalf, "Maddie, don't worry about it, I'll bet I gave Rai...Raichu? a real bad scare, you couldn't blame him!" Madison shook her head, "That's not the point. Raichu has been my pokemon from a Pitchu, and knows by now that it's rude to shock anyone unless I tell him to," she turned to Raichu, who had crawled out of the whole, shuffling his feet.

"Well?" Maddie asked, arms akimbo. Raichu's lip quivered, and he burst into tears, clinging to Maddies' trainers. Maddie sighed, and stooped to Raichu's level.

"Raichu, I know you were scared, but you can't use that as an excuse. I want you to apologise to Jaden right now, and promise me you won't shock anyone while your here ok?" Raichu put his running nose onto Maddies, staring at her with wet eyes, "Rai-chu," he blubbered hoarsely. Maddie smiled. "To Jaden please, and that's better. Right, " she turned to Jaden, "I'll sort out the mud." she brought out Squirtle, who power washed Jaden and his clothes in one go. Jaden stood, water pouring from his hair, shivering. "Come to my dorm guys, we'll dry Jay off and I'll _formally_ introduce ya to the pokemon." The boys smiled as Maddie led the way, keeping a bit behind to talk,

"Whoa, Maddies got a sharp tongue in her head," Syrus said uneasily. Jaden looked indifferent,

"Nah, that's discipline. I think her pokemon are like little children to her, they need to learn about social things and that before they can be accepted, i think Maddie was trying to tell Raichu (he was getting better at pronouncing Raichu's name) that if he shocked me in fear, he wouldn't fit in a school full of students. There'd be a shock a day,"

"C'mon Jay! You wanna catch a cold?" Maddie called, speeding up the two boys to her dorm, where her uniform woes were waiting in their large bowed box, ready to embarrass her on Monday.

* * *

**Later that evening...**

The three Slifers sat on the floor in Maddie's room. Jaden returned from the bathroom, his hair wrapped in a towel turban style, Syrus cross-legged on the floor, Maddie stretched across her bunk.

"Right, time to introduce my pokemon _properly_!" she giggled nervously, throwing a pokeball at a time, explaining about them,

"This is Raichu, an electric type pokemon-"

"Electric type?"

"Yeah, you have different themes in your decks, we have different types of pokemon that thrive in different conditions. Most power plants employ electric type pokemon like Raichu, as they're useful in the industry. This is Chimchar, whose a fire type, they're normally helping with the furnaces, though that's usually Arcanine or Magmar… This is Squirtle, a water type, and Pitchu, a baby electric type. He'll evolve into a Picachu then evolve again into a Raichu, though sometimes you can get variations within the species. Kara's pokemon is papa's Riolu, a psychic type pokemon, who should be evolving into Locario soon." Maddie smiled. Jaden seemed to have taken nothing in, but was content to play with Chimchar, who'd taken an instant liking to him, passing a ball between them, while sensitive Raichu preferred Syrus' company.

Syrus was a bit apprehensive after the shocking fiasco; so he looked like he was going to feint. Raichu picked up on his nervousness, and began looking about him in paranoia. Maddie giggled, "Sy, Raichu thinks you're worried about something." Sy looked at her then back at Raichu. Madison smiled, "It's ok, give Raichu a pat to calm his nerves, go on." Syrus hesitantly stretched out to touch Raichu's head. It was warm and fluffy. Raichu purred slightly, leaning into Sy's hand like a cat, small sparks jumping about his circular cheeks, sending a tingling jolt through Sy's arm, causing him to gasp.

"See? Raichu likes you a lot." Maddie smiled, placing her hand on Raichu's head too. Jaden looked at his watch, "Jeez, it's half ten! We'd better get going! Thanks for the towel Maddie." He stood up, as did Sy and Maddie. Chimchar looked crestfallen, tugging at Jadens' trouser leg.

"Hey, you can play with Jay tomorrow if he has time Chimmie!" Maddie laughed as she waved to her friends retreating backs. Closing the door, she turned to her pokemon, "Ok, time for bed said Zebadee!" Raichu picked up a slumbering Pitchu and hopped into the middle bunk, Maddie tucking them in. Squirtle and Chimchar slept at opposite ends of the top bunk, being fire and water types, they got on surprisingly well. Maddie watched as Chimchar's tail went out, proving she had fallen asleep. Maddie sighed as she changed into her nightwear (a white, ankle-length nightdress with a laced yoke) and went to brush her teeth. As she surveyed herself in the mirror, she noticed the uniform box sitting on the desk where Kara had left it. Her shoulders slumped as she thought of walking into class, dressed totally different to the other girls.

"Hey, I was gonna be the odd one out anyway, four pokemon and no duelling skills, at least Kara would integrate better, actually knowing how to duel. I don't even have a deck!" she stopped herself, "Well, I do have one card…but it's not mine technically, it's papa's." The thought of her father brought a sting of tears, which she harshly brushed away. There was no reason to cry now, that was all in the past.

She climbed into her bunk and pulled the duvet over her head, singing a little nursery rhyme that her father had taught her absent minded.

"Mare's eat oats,

And doe's eat oats,

And little lambs eat ivy.

A kid'll eat ivy too,

Wouldn't you?"

Authoresses' Blah Blah Number 3!

Please don't freak out when you read the chemistry. If you don't understand it, let it go shoom! Over your head, if you do get it, you can have a paper hat! ^_^ Also, pinking shears are a type of fabric cutting scissors with a zigzag edge for finishing seams (though an over locker or zigzag stitch is better!) The rhyme at the end is something of sentimental value to me, it was a rhyme mum used to sing to my sister and me when we were little, and it's something I want to pass to my children. It's sung with a lilting gait, sorta like running the words together, so it sound like this:

Mares-e-dotes,

And Does-e-dotes,

And lil-lambs eat-ivy,

A kid-l-eat ivy too,

Wouldn't you?

Nice huh? Well, I hope you all enjoyed chapter 4, I'll be writing up to chapter 6 for 2009, so I can rest during the Christmas holidays (though if I get a whizzer idea, I'll be writing!) Don't forget to review, and I'll see you in chapter 5!


	5. Morning Lessons

Yo! Here's chapter 5.

The sun rose, bright like honey dew, to shake the slumbering Academy into life. Students shuffled to their dorm canteens, wiping sleep out of weary eyes, yawning widely as they fumbled with uniform sleeves and gloves.

Jaden and Syrus sat in the Slifer canteen, waiting for Madison to make an appearance.

"I hope Maddies ok, she seemed nervous yesterday." Syrus commented, sipping his soup.

"She'll be here…I expect." Jaden replied behind his ramen. The other boys were somewhat rowdy at mealtimes, but today, they were dead silent. The brown and bluenette noticed, and turned to see what was up. Maddie stood in the doorway, wearing her new uniform. She timidly pulled at the bow on her sailor collar as she walked to the server to get breakfast. The other boys continued to stare, making Maddie wish she hadn't left her pokemon in her dorm. She sashayed (The heels on the boots made her hips swish from side to side more prominent) over to the seat Jaden and Syrus had saved for her, awkwardly holding her tray with one hand in order to smooth the back of her skirt as she sat down, her shoulders creeping further and further towards her ears. The Slifers went back to their normal morning ruckus, though most conversations now involved Madison and her attire.

"I wish those other Slifer boys would stop staring. You'd think they'd never seen a girl before." She complained into her dry toast, being too nervous to eat anything else. There was an edgy silence for a few minutes, the three Slifers thinking their own thoughts. At last, Syrus decided to break the silence, feeling it press in on him,

"You look…different Maddie," he tried to compliment her, but as he was really such a shy person, he found it difficult to get his words out without blushing or giving up on his sentence. Madison took the small stall in his words unnerving,

"Good different, or bad different?" she asked, choking on her toast, which got harder to swallow with every mouthful. It didn't help that her stomach was now a mass of knots.

"Oh, definitely good." Jaden remarked as he re-surfaced from his bowl, took a swig of juice, and returned to the bowl. Maddie sighed, and gave up on her toast. She'd only had half a slice. She stood up in sync with her friends, and left with Syrus for her first ever lesson-Chemistry with Proff. Banner.

Chemistry went exceedingly well. Apart from Proff. Banner managing to blow up yet another conical flask by putting too much sodium into the hydrochloric acid (not a good example. Putting sodium in water is dangerous enough, putting it in acid is SUICIDE!) Maddie was the one, apart from Syrus, to answer all the questions given to her correctly. Actually, Maddie had already studied reaction rates at her school back home, but she hadn't the heart to complain, so she thought of it as good revision, as the rate of reaction equation stumped her, which was the bit that Sy understood best, so they got on well, helping each other.

They met up with Jaden at the main lecture hall for Duelling-The practical and tactical skills. Kara was already sitting with Bastion in the Ra yellow section of the seating, frantically scribbling away on a piece of paper. Riolu was standing at her feet; his front paws resting on her knees. His ears cocked, and he looked round at the Slifers, then grinned. Tugging at the hem of Kara's black, Victorian style dress, he motioned at them, squeaking slightly,

"Rii-olu…Rii-Rii!"

Kara looked over her notes at him, then where he was pointing.

"Oh, hey Maddie!" she called, standing up, giving a clear view of her dress. The skirt part was two layers and a petticoat, the bodice a corset, with two lace-edged straps, off-the-shoulder puff sleeves (creating a cut-out effect), lacy wrist gloves, knee length socks, straight bar shoes, a thick black choker that spanned her whole neck and a headband that held her hair in twists at the top. The whole outfit was black, with the exception of the corset strings and edgings, though these were in grey so it was hardly a striking difference. She trotted down the steps to meet her sister, hugging her tightly. Madison had had a chat with her uncle yesterday, who understood Kara's needs and notified all of Kara's teachers.

"Thank-you Maddie!" she whispered.

"Don't thank me. Thank Uncle Vellian for his kindness." Maddie replied.

As this was going on, more of the students were beginning to drift in by degrees, seating them selves according to their rank. Kara skipped off in a melancholy fashion to the middle of the seating, with the other Ra Yellow students. Maddie took her place in between Syrus and Jaden at the front with the other Slifer boys, the Obelisk students taking a hike to the back.

Dr. Vellian Crowler swished into the hall, giving the usual teacher tirades of, "Settle down!" and "In your proper seats. Time for idle chit chat is at break!" The hall was silent as he placed his briefcase onto his desk, took out a few papers and scrawled "Setting up Traps Effectively" onto the chalkboard.

"Decks away please, and copy the title in your jotters."

A few hopeful students grudgingly put their decks away and pulled out their jotters. The lesson was completely lost on Maddie. She kept up with the copying and note taking, adding extra notes that were enunciated in order to understand better, but she had no idea about any of the tactics being talked about. She glanced from her jotter (where she had been copying a paragraph on "The Trainworthy Trap") to Sy, who writing hurricane pace, his hair scrunching underneath one sweaty palm that held his head up.

"Ok, rule out asking Sy," she thought, turning to Jaden instead; but his head was hidden by his jotter. She stretched in her seat, to find Jay fast asleep behind it, pages fluttering occasionally from his breath.

"And rule out asking Jay. Hmn…Oh, I could ask Kara or Bastion later, he seemed nice enough from what Kara said," she was interrupted from her thoughts by a small paper ball hitting her hair with a little _pak!_ She shook her head slightly to dislodge it and continued writing. But the barrage of paper missiles continued. Still she ignored it, considering she couldn't pinpoint its exact origin. She even resorted to 'dropping' her pen; having to walk out the aisle to the front to retrieve it, scrutinising the upper levels as she returned to her seat.

"Kara! Come here a moment," Dr. Crowler called from his desk, where he was marking some third year NAB's. Kara stood up, passing some fellow Ra's and walked down towards the desk. He murmured something to her, and she left the room, her Riolu in hot pursuit. Two minutes later, there was a rap on the hall doors, and Ms. Hibiki poked her long, sleek raven locks around the door.

"Could I speak to you outside for a couple of minutes Vellian?" she said with a soft Scottish accent. Vellian complied, closing the door behind him. The Slifers almost exploded in an onslaught of talk, as did some Ra's. The obelisks were more or less quiet, they'd been whispering and note passing throughout the lesson.

Suddenly, without warning, a heavy object struck Maddie hard in the back of the head, just below her hair bow. She let out a gasp, immediately touching the spot. The weapon was a textbook, the newest edition, and in mint condition, say for the now bent pages as it landed on the floor. Syrus instantly looked at Maddie in concern, touching her shoulder,

"Are you ok? You're not bleeding are you?" Maddie took her hand away,

"No, but it was the corner of the book that got me." She stated, rubbing the area, her eyes squinting, watering with pain.

Jaden, who'd woken up; due to a miss-judged paper missile that had bounced off his jotter and bobbed him on the nose, leaned forward to examine the book, then stood up and turned to look up at the Obelisks.

"Ok. Which one of you threw that textbook at Madison?"

There was pure silence; many lower down students craning their necks upward to look for a response. There was none.

Jaden shook his head in disgust.

"I thought so. Mr. Nobody. Well, whoever it was should feel ashamed for treating a lady like that, especially when she's new to everything and is trying to look like she's been here for as long as us. It's frankly quite-" he was cut off by Maddie, gently tugging on his sleeve.

"C'mon Jay, I'm not hurt too bad. It's ok-"

"No it sure as hell is not ok!" Jaden replied, staring scathingly at the Obelisks. Syrus' brow furrowed apprehensively. He'd never really seen Jaden loose it before, and knew that, although Jay took things with a pretty laid-back attitude, he most definitely wouldn't take any crap.

Unfortunately, Dr. Crowler came in with a "What's all this then?" which is any teenager in education's worst nightmare. I'm sure all of you, at some point, have been sorting out a dispute, wither identical or totally different to this one, only to have a teacher barge in and, having no idea what's going on, starts throwing their teacherly weight around. This was one such scenario.

"What's all this then?" he asked, somewhat annoyed (Ms. Hibiki had just told him that the mid-term reports for the winter semester were to be due two weeks earlier than planned).

"Well, Dr. Crowler, Jaden had something he wanted to say to us!" a whiney Obelisk grassed up.

"Explain your self Mr. Yuki," Crowler growled, quirking an eyebrow, as if daring Jaden to come up with a reason for standing up.

"Well…y-you see Dr. Crowler, it all started when-"

"We're not here for story time; I suggest you cut to the chase." Crowler interrupted, prompting sniggers from several Obelisk students. Luckily for Jaden, Madison came to his rescue, still rubbing her head.

"Professor-sorry-Dr. Jaden just got cramp, and I suggested he stand up to get rid of it, and he was just saying to me how painful it was when you came in." she said, putting on her biggest, cheesiest smile. Dr, Crowler let out a long "Hmn." And then, arms crossed, he shrugged, "If you say so Madison. Sit down Jaden." And continued with the lecture.

"Thanks Maddie," Jaden whispered, taking his seat again, "I owe ya one!"

"Na, we're even. You've done so much for me already!" Maddie replied.

"Sweet," was the only thing she got from Jaden after that, except the occasional quiet snore from him. Maddie couldn't help but smile, and turned to Syrus for some help, now that he'd finished copying up.

**Up in the Obelisk Sector… (Oooh! Fun Stuff. CANON CHARACTERS! And 1 OC. Couldn't resist… ^^;**

There were many whispers among the best students in their royal blue uniforms, mostly,

"How'd she manage that?" and "Isn't she a Slifer?"

Chazz Princeton, who'd been lazily taking his notes and talking to his fellow Obelisk and female friend, Alexis Rhodes, had been watching the whole scene unfold. And he wasn't impressed. He turned to the male on his other side, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, freckled prep named William, and half drawled,

"That was not cool Will. You shouldn't have tormented her."

Though Chazz could be a jerk at times, he was a nice person really, though only Alexis, his duel spirit (light and darkness dragon) and a child hood friend he'd had knew about that.

William merely laughed, checking his hair in a mirror,

"Oh come on Thunder, it was a laugh. See how she wormed her way outta that, and she's not bad looking either…"

Alexis pushed a strand of her poker straight ochre hair behind her ear, knowing it would instantly fall across her face again, and leaned across Chazz, half hissing,

"That was an awful thing to do to someone. If you don't apologise to her, Chazz and me will, wont we Chazz?"

On being suddenly brought into the conversation again without warning, Chazz resorted to arrogance as he shuffled his deck,

"Huh? Why should _I_, The Chazz, The Thunder, apologise for what _he's_ done?"

Alexis frowned, "_Fine. I'll_ apologise then…" she growled, stuffing her books back into her bag and beginning the decent to the door.

"Hey Lex!" William called after her, "get mah text book for me will you?" but Alexis just snarled, "Get it yourself! What did your last slave die of?" and hurried away.

William let out a "Pufft!" of irritation, commenting to Chazz, "Women. PMSing or summit." Picking up the textbook, which was now pretty dog-eared from people trampling over it, not wanting to be seen by Jaden to pick it up. Chazz just rolled his eyes, and followed his 'friend' out to the green for break.

Jaden had to go and pick a package up from Miss. Dorothy's, and Syrus accompanied him, saying to Maddie that he'd rather see she was all right, but Maddie would hear none of it. So she walked slowly back to her dorm, her head still throbbing. She was aware of a pair of boots like her own crunching up the gravel path behind her at an erratic pace.

"Hey! Hey you!" it was a girls voice. Madison turned to see a girl of her own height, in an Obelisk Blue uniform that clung mercilessly to her curves, charging towards her. Maddie would've made a run for it, but seeing as the girl was smiling, she had a feeling this wasn't going to be confrontational.

The girl stopped in front of her, puffing from her speed, hands on knees, her ochre hair flapping in front of her face.

"Sorry," she panted, "I didn't know what else to say…. I don't know your name," she looked at Madison with a grin through her hair.

"I'm Madison, or Maddie, if you like." Maddie said, returning the smile.

She straightened up, "Maddie… Nice. I'm Alexis, but call me Lex. Anyway, I'm rambling, I came to apologise for William. You see, he threw the textbook at you. I hope you weren't too badly hurt."

"Oh no, not badly. I'm used to quite bad knocks. But why are you having to apologise for his actions?"

Alexis scowled, "Because he's a jerk who doesn't understand when a joke's gone too far. He's too cowardly to own up to anything, and anyway, he's scared of Jaden."

Maddie frowned, "scared? Of Jaden? Why?"

Alexis smiled again as she and Maddie began to walk,

"Because Jaden would duel him to defend your honour. And he'd cream William too."

Maddie looked confused, so Alexis explained,

"Jaden's an amazing Duellist. Possibly the best here, I mean, besides Zane Truesdale, who graduated last year, but the problem with Jay is that he seems to have a short attention span; if he could get his head around the theory he'd actually get somewhere. I assume he was sleeping _again_?"

Maddie nodded.

"I'll let him borrow my notes to catch up."

"You mentioned he would protect my honour. What do you mean exactly?"

"Oh that? Jaden is an extremely loyal person. Kinda like a puppy. His friendship is for life, not Christmas. He defended me once when I had a stalker, of sorts, and helped me to find my brother. Syrus would too, if he could get round his shyness."

Madison let that last bit sink in for a minute.

"Wait. You said Zane _Truesdale_. You mean--?"

"Yip. Syrus is Zane's younger brother. Poor Sy. Living in his brother's shadow has dented his confidence. But you should've seen him before he met Jaden. He was a nervous wreck when it came to duelling, whereas now, he can more or less keep it together."

"Boys are so confusing. It's like they're from a different planet." Maddie mused.

"Heh. They're from a different _universe_, never mind a different planet Maddie!" Alexis giggled, and they both laughed as the Dorms came into view.

"Would you like to come in for a cuppa?" Maddie asked, for she and Alexis were beginning to get on rather well.

"Um…sure," Alexis nodded.

"Yay! And you can meet my pokemon!" Maddie beamed as she skipped up the stairs.

Alexis' eyebrows knitted, "Poke? Poke-what?? Maddie, Wait up!" she cried, bounding after her new friend.

Five Minutes Later

There was a knock on the door as Maddie and Alexis sat down, drinking green tea out of earthenware mugs.

" M in!" Maddie called as the door opened, revealing Jaden and Syrus. Chimchar made a beeline for Jaden, who gave her a cuddle as she leaped and rested on his shoulders.

"Thought we might find you here. Oh, hey Lex. Long time, no see."

"Yeah," Alexis answered, looking about her, "Well, I do kinda miss this dorm and the leaky hot tap."

"You lived here once?" Madison asked.

"Yup. Long story though…Hi Syrus!" Alexis pointedly said, as Syrus had been half hiding behind Jaden, patting Raichu's head. His reply was so quiet, all you heard was, " 'lo,"

Maddie poured the boys some tea and asked Jaden, "What's in that tub?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Mum sent me some Rocky Road." He said sheepishly, offering the tub. Everyone shared it out. It was very chewy, sticky and gooey, but it tasted amazing. A few minutes later, Kara entered from running her errand, accompanied by Bastion, so more tea was poured. Soon the room was full of laughter, tea, rocky road, pokemon mooching food and attention from person to person and chatter about the morning.

Madison was particularly happy having such a busy room, talking about their summer vacations.

Authoresses' Ultra Special Blah Blah No. 4!

WHOO! I _FINNALY_ finished this chapter! I'd had it all planned out for AGES, but now, 2 hours and 3 minutes later, I've finished, and ready to go on to chapter 6, which is also planned out. Does anyone think Jaden was OOC back then? I just thought he'd be more likely to defend Maddie than Sy (no offence, but you're incredibly shy Sy. *ha! That Rhymes! XD* ) so I was just doing what I thought was right. Also, I'm using the manga as reference, so Chazz will have a spirit partner (did he have one in the show? I know not.) Also, Emily, could you tell me what colour Alexis' eyes are? I think they're green or brown…I wanted to talk about them in this chap, but I couldn't remember, and the manga's in black and white, so….

Anyway, there's more important things than that, like, IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE TODAY! I'm SOOOOOO excited! Oh, and we're snowed in here in Scotland. Worst snow since 2000, 2ft. + under in snow. It's amazing fun though!

Well, I hope you all have a merry Xmas and a happy new year, especially Jaden, Jesse and Syrus!

P.S. Sorry about the Chemistry stuff again. If you don't get it, ignore it. Basically, Sodium is a metal belonging to group 1 of what's called the periodic table of elements. It's an alkaline Metal, meaning that, when you add it to water, it fizzes really fast on the surface, reacting with the water, and giving off a pop! Explosion (which is why you do this behind a screen and wearing safety gear). This reaction is fast and violent, and when finished, you can add a universal indicator to it to test the water. The yellow indicator will change to a purple colour, meaning it is alkali (best examples of alkaline things would be hydrogen peroxide (bleach) which is also found in hair dyes.) Acid has more particles whizzing around (as it were) than the water, so putting sodium into it (remember how violent it was in water?) makes it EVEN faster and more violent than the water one. Which is why, boys and girls, you DO NOT put sodium into acid. It's impossible to do without causing an explosion capable of blowing a room up, but I couldn't think of anything else to put in (It's the holidays, come on!). Sorry for the Chemistry lesson, but I'd like you to understand what was going on. This is just a simplified version explaining it; I could go on for hours (I love chemistry THAT much, you can see where Maddie gets it from ;D ) each of my OC's has at least one thing that is true to me.

Maddie has my love of Chemistry

Kara has my hair

William has the arrogance I had a few years back

Shara (an OC here coming later) has my love of dance, and terrible heart breaks (though hers are worse than mine, poor baby…)

Reviews please! :D


	6. Afternoon Lessons

_Oooh, I'm on a roll! ;D Here's chapter 6!_

After break was over; Kara, Bastion and Alexis had to leave for Duel Design and Technology, with Madison, Jaden and Syrus leaving for Practical duelling. Jaden skipped ahead, a large smile spread across his features. Practical duelling was his favourite subject. They stood in a group with the other Slifers and a handful of Ra's as their teacher, Mrs. Thompson, split them into groups of four. She reached Maddie, looked her up and down somewhat drunkenly, and partly slurred in her English accent,

"Ah, Madison, isn't it? Right, you can go with Syrus, Jaden and Emily." A tall Ra Yellow girl waltzed dreamily towards the little group, smiling serenely.

"Right everyone, we're going to have a little mini tournament within our class room. One group to each court, play in pairs, the winners facing each other. Off you go!" and sat in her mobility chair shaking slightly. Mrs. Thompson suffered from Multiple Sclerosis, despite her young age of 24, meaning she was gradually loosing the ability to walk, and had to take strong painkillers just to get through her lessons, however, she was a very headstrong woman, absolutely refusing to go into care until the end.

Maddie clutched her duel disk to her chest apprehensively. Emily turned to her,

"First time huh?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. Well, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it easy!" she said kindly. Jaden was going to duel Syrus, and Emily was going to duel Maddie.

"Ladies first" Jaden said, giving Maddie a light push to the marked lines that scrolled across the floor. Emily clipped her duel disk on and activated it, placing her deck into the small compartment.

"You can go first if you want to Madison." She called from the other end. Maddie nodded. Staring at the floor, she looked to Jaden,

"Um, Jay…how do you put this on again?"

Jaden burst into fits of giggles, thinking Maddie was kidding him on. His laughter died on his lips as he realised she was being serious.

"Well…you sorta, well…do this," and he placed his disk on his arm slowly to show her.

"Ah!" she chirped, mimicking his movements.

"Madison, where's your deck?" Mrs. Thompson's voice hollered over the cries of "Attack!" and "No!" and "Damn! How'd you do that?" Maddie swallowed hard, thinking fast,

"I...uh…left it in my dorm Mrs. Thompson. Sorry." Her teacher sighed, "Well, remember it for tomorrow." And chugged off on her scooter to correct a cheating duellist. Emily looked crestfallen,

"Oh, I was so looking forward to duelling you," she said. Maddie hung her head in shame.

"That's ok Emily, you can duel me instead!" Jaden smiled warmly. Emily brightened at this thought, and the duel began. Syrus played with his deck, placing them in combinations. He glanced occasionally between his deck, the duel and Maddie, and caught her leaning towards him curiously. He cocked his head to one side, his hair following in a flopping fashion. Madison, being caught, jumped back slightly in her seat, apologising,

"Sorry Sy. I was just wondering what type of deck you had." He gave a small smile (you know, the one that's so blooming adrorabubble!) As he replied,

"Oh, that's ok. I use a Vehicroid deck." Maddie had the same smile on her face, as she was silent for a few moments,

"And what is that exactly?" Syrus was close to laughing himself. She really was _that_ clueless about duelling. Then again, he new nothing about pokemon, so they were even. He passed her a couple of cards to show her as he explained,

"They're sorta like… anthrothormorphic vehicles, really chibi."

"Aw Cute!" Maddie scrunched her eyes and beamed, squeaking in a voice similar to the one she used to talk to Pitchu. At that moment, she looked really at home, but soon the sparkle of her smile dimmed to a rueful chuckle as she half mumbled, returning the cards, "Can you keep a secret?" He glanced behind him, where Emily had just caught Jaden out with a well planned face down trap, then looked back and nodded. Maddie scooted closer to him, her fringe tickling his forehead slightly as she murmured,

"I don't own a deck. I had one once, but I lost it."

"Well, why didn't you buy a new one?" Sy asked, now incredibly interested.

"It's…it's hard to explain, and I don't know if I'm ready to share it…ya know?"

"Oh, I wouldn't like to pressure you," Syrus said, knowing only too well how she felt, "but when your ready, I'll be listening." He finished, placing a hand on her shoulder. Maddie gave him a one armed hug, "Thanks Sy. You're so understanding."

"And that's a wrap!" Emily grinned, her surprise trap had completely mucked up Jaden's plan, which had caused him to loose. He was high-spirited as he high-hived Emily,

"That was one sweet trick you pulled Em! I definitely didn't see it coming!" Emily twisted a short lock of chestnut brown hair about her finger, blushing bashfully, "aw, you had me against the wall a couple of times there." Mrs. Thomson whirred towards them,

"Nicely played you too. Good work Emily. Jaden, you did really well, and held out fine, but you must remember to keep more than one strategy in mind when duelling. You've got to be flexible. Next time I see you, have two different strategies that have a common factor. That way, you can change tactics a the drop of a hat." She patted his head affectionately,

"Right Emily, are you up for another duel?"

"Primed and ready!" she said, grinning a Syrus,

"I'll go easy on ya, promise!" she teased, sticking her tongue out.

"Ditto" Syrus said, drawing four cards, sticking his tongue out too.

"That's the spirit!" Mrs. Thompson beamed as she chugged off again.

The rest of the lesson wore on until a Ra Yellow boy won overall. Madison watched with deep interest, with Jaden, Emily and Syrus pointing things out here and there.

The rest of the day was uneventful, except for Squirtle squirting Alexis in an affectionate way. Alexis found it hilarious as her hair began to ringlet, saying,

"It's needing a wash anyway!"

As Madison snuggled into her bed, she turned to her family photo and frowned. Getting out of bed, she sat in her chair, looking at it.

"Well, papa, my first day went well. Even though I've got a duck egg growing out my head, no major catastrophes! Just gotta find a deck by tomorrow. No pressure huh?" her father's clean-shaven face just stared out of the frame, smiling at her all the same. She sighed, fingered the photo, then climbed back into bed, about to relive the dream of her knight again.

**Authoress' ULTRA CHRISTMASSY Blah Blah No.5!**

Whoohoo! A Christmas day chappie! Yay! Well, Emily, this chap's specifically for you! Enjoy, and have a great day today, and I wish Jeremie and Max a Merry Xmas too! ^_^


	7. Duelling and Decks

Whoohoo! It's 2010! Happy New Year to A' body! :D

_This is the FIRST update of the New Year, how blooming' exciting! Oh, there's some duelling in this, and some action, so sorry if it gets kinda confusing ^_^; _

_I've had a fight with my mum, and right now, I couldn't care less, so I'm going to channel my anger into writing before I KILL her! :K _

The school semester wore on throughout autumn and into winter. Maddie managed to get by on the duelling theory alone, however, her practical test were all fails as she had 'forgotten' her non-existent deck, and her overall grades began to suffer as a result.

"I just don't understand it Vellian," Mrs. Thompson began one break, "Her grades are near perfect in every other subject, and her theory is moving at the correct pace. So why…?" her sentence just trailed off.

"Madison doesn't own a deck. She has a single card and that's it." Vellian replied, shuffling a brand new deck in his hands.

"But," he continued, noticing the astonished look on Mrs. Thompson's face, "I've re-constructed the deck she used to own with Miss. Hibiki's help, and if she adds the one card she has, she'll have a full deck and ready for re-sits next semester." The bell rang to signal the start of 3rd period. The two teachers took leave of the staff room, headed for their next classes.

"When will Madison receive her deck? She doesn't have any duelling today." Mrs. Thompson commented, stopping at her classroom door.

"Um…She'll be in Gym right now, I think." Vellian replied, glancing at his watch, "as it's Wednesday." And took his leave.

"I'll serve!" Maddie called from where she'd collected the volleyball. Running back to Syrus, Jaden and a fellow Slifer boy named Jeremie, she threw the ball and gave it a hard upward blow. The ball almost hit the ceiling before threatening to whack Jeremie on the face, but he gave it a blow back that was just as hard.

"Whoa, she's got some spike, huh?" he commented. Maddie giggled, "I had to restrain a wild Crainydose with mum once, I've kinda got a bit too strong for my own good." The group were lost as to what a Crainydose was, but decided to keep playing regardless.

"So, Maddie," Jaden said, bouncing the ball on his fingertips a few times before bombing the ball in Syrus' direction, "what's your mum do, if she has to wrestle with a Crainydose and avoid being shocked by a Raichu?"

"My mum's one of the many Nurse Joy's that work in the pokemon world. We're sorta like, pokemon doctors in a way. My mum's the Nurse Joy for Blossom Town, where I live, and someday I'll take her place."

"So, you're here for a change of scenery?" Jeremie asked, passing her the ball.

"No. Kara and me have to stay here until mum gets out of hospital. She's sick." She passed the ball to Syrus, who dropped it in surprise.

"Oh, we're sorry Maddie," he squeaked. Maddie picked up the ball and served, smiling,

"Nah, don't be. Mum's got a lot of faith in the medical profession." There was a small, awkward pause, which Jaden and Jeremie broke will a yell as they fell on top of each other, trying to get the ball at the same time. Maddie almost fell to the floor herself; laughing at the faces they pulled, Syrus giggling behind his closed mouth in a cute way. Minutes later, they were back to talking about duelling came up again, and that sparked a conversation about pokemon contests.

"You get three types of contests. The battles, the co-ordinator contests and the poke-stylist contests. I'm a co-ordinator. I create routines to perform with my pokemon. If you're good, you go to the next stage, which are like pokemon dance battles, and then if you win, you get a ribbon. I've got four at the moment."

The conversation was cut short by a sharp blow on Miss. Fontaine's whistle,

"Balls away and go get changed please!" she called. (Hah, I just got an innuendo there. I'm so dirty minded! XD)

MEANWHILE, IN THE DUELLING AREANA…

"I activate my face-down card- GRAVEYARD OF WANDERING SOULS! And by sending Fox Fire to the graveyard, I special summon one fireball token to the field (ATK: 100 Def: 100)" Bastion called from his side of the field.

"Another? End of tu-" Kara began.

"Not so fast! I activate Fox Fire's special ability. At the end of the turn, Fox fire is revived."

"_Damn! A wall monster._" Kara thought, her fist clenching,

"_My monster's attack points are 600, so there won't be much damage from that Fox. If I activate the face down card I have..._" She was snapped out of her thoughts as Bastions Fox attacked.

"What the…? Ok then…" Kara yelled, "I activate my face down card, FOREST FIRE! I now sacrifice Dark Fostarian oak, and from my hand I call Dark Fostarian Prince to the field! (ATK: 1900 Def: 2000) Now, my prince, Attack that Fox with Poison Staff!" The dark green clad, elfin creature bounded gracefully, drawing his staff, and tore through the centre of the fire bound fox, destroying the image and leaving Bastion's points at 2400. But Bastion wasn't beaten yet,

"I activate Graceful Charity, and by sending two monsters to the grave, and having Fox Fire there too, I can special summon three fire tokens. I end my turn with two face downs, but at the same time, I summon Fox Fire from the graveyard in defence mode during the end phase." Bastion gave a small smile. He'd backed Kara into a corner, or so he'd hoped.

Riolu, who stood with his mistress throughout the duel, knew exactly what was going on. He tugged at Kara's dress, with frantic eyes, "RII-RIOLUUU! RI-RIO-RI!"

"I know little one, I know. He's got something big up his sleeve. If only I knew what it was. No matter, I have the cards I need, I just have to make I can execute my plan. Stay Calm, and show nothing to him." Riolu nodded, and stared back out, poker faced. Kara's thoughts were realised as Bastion Played a spell card named GATHERING OF MALICE and turned his dinky fireballs into GOKA, THE PYRE OG MALICE (ATK: 2200 DEF: 1900) Kara stared at the flaming metal pyre, her face frozen in absolute terror. Riolu screamed, hiding behind her dress. For a few minutes, she just stood there, paralysed. Some watchers got a bit restless,

"Get on with it!" they shouted. Kara gasped loudly, realising she'd forgotten to breathe. Shaking her hair about her face, She activated a second monster named DARK FOSTARIAN MAIDEN (ATK: 1900 Def: 200) Bastion's monster made mincemeat of her prince, her life points ebbing to 3400. She was visibly cowering from the fire pot, Riolu refusing to come out from under her dress. The maiden monster began to weep, having lost the prince to the flames, and flitted just above the floor, kneeling down. This revelation caused some curiosity, but it was pushed to the back of Bastions mind. Yet something kept niggling. Kara was afraid of his holographic monster. Odd. None-the-less, Bastion made ready for a direct attack on Kara, if he got the maiden out of the way first.

"I'm ending this now!" Kara shrieked, "Trap card SWEET REVENGE, ACTIVATE! I remove two graveyard monsters from this game, and by paying 1000 life points; I can re-summon DARK FOSTARIAN PRINCE as DARK FOSTARIAN KING!" (ATK: 2500 Def: 2000)

"No matter, even if it's mutual kill, I'll eliminate your king!"

"No you will not," Kara called, a slight mischievous tone entering her voice, "I activate a spell card named MAGIC MIRROR this card returns fusion monsters to what they were before on the opposing field, so your Goka shall return to it's original state," Bastion was dumfounded as he watched his monster return to tokens, which had to vanish as their summoning monster was not in the graveyard. He put his two remaining monsters, RIGOROUS REAVER and FOX FIRE into defence mode, bracing himself, " and now I have only one more thing to do. I activate my king's supporting card, LOYAL SUBJECTS! Any level 4 or below monster will be forced to attack my king, and I think you understand what that means, yes?" Bastion merely nodded, his life points dropping to zero.

"You can come out now Riolu, it's gone." Kara said, lifting her skirts slightly. Riolu squealed and continued to hide, turning away. Kara picked him up and cuddled him to her body, doll-style. She shook hand with Bastion and they took their seats to watch another two Ra Yellow's duel one another.

Later on in the day…

All the dorm groups had been called to meetings. It was almost dark as the Slifers walked into the stadium, filling up the front rows so Professor Banner wouldn't have to shout.

"I'm sure you all know, unless you haven't been into main campus today, that the posters are up for the end of semester winter dance. This one will also be the last time I shall see my fine 3rd year Christmas leavers before they graduate, so let's make this one a night to remember. There'll also be a chance to perform, and the sign up slip will be outside my office until the day after tomorrow, so that's not long. Also, as you know if you were here last year, the organisational skills displayed by the Slifers were amazing, and this year we have been asked to do the decorating, so I'm sure you'll enjoy that, and it gets you out of maths!" he half winked as the Slifers cheered, "but you didn't hear that from me!" he laughed as he dismissed his dorm to bed. Many of the 2nd and 3rd years were buzzing with excitement, talking about how great it had been last year.

"Bet it'll be fun!" Jaden grinned, "I love a good shin-digs!"

Maddie nodded, "I haven't been to one for ages. It'd be great to…" she trailed off as she spotted her uncle outside her room. He waved to her.

"I'll see you guys later." She said, running up the stairs to meet him.

"I'm not here long Maddie, I just wanted to drop this off for you. Open it inside kay?" Maddie nodded and headed inside. Raichu used shadow claw to open the sellotape on the package (it had been well wrapped) and pulled back the paper. Inside there was a note in her uncle's swirly scroll:

"Add it to the one you have :D" it was a deck. She shuffled them, remembering the names. "I've missed you," she whispered, hugging the cards. "Look dad, Uncle Vellian made me a deck!" she showed them to the photo. Squirtle looked up at her sadly.

"Squirtle….squii, squiiiiiiirtle…"

"No, I am not forgetting you," Maddie replied, "You know pokemon will always be in my heart. But right now, right here, what matters is duelling. But," she said, throwing them a dance flyer and turning on her e-mail service, ready to write, "I have an idea, but I'll need Shara's help."

**Authoresses' BLAH BLAH number…6!**

Hey everyone! :D I was originally gonna put the dance in here, but once I started adding the bit at the beginning and the bit with the pokemon, it started getting quite long, so the dance will be in the next chapter. I LOVE DANCES! They're such great plot devices (though sadly cliché D: ) but I luv em anyway! There isn't much romance at the moment, is there? Haha, sorry, it's just that, well, if Syrus is quite shy, it would take time to get him out of that shell, wouldn't it. But don't worry, the romance will get there in it's own good time (It better, otherwise this wont be a romance fic, lol!). I go back to school on the 6th, so I'll try to get chapter 8 written and up before then, otherwise you might not see an update from me until my next holiday (starting February 13th) but I'll do my best to have it ready by the 5th. I actually managed to stop myself from putting any chemistry in here, yay! And I tried writing a duel. I hope it wasn't too confusing. I used the duel between Bastion and Jaden in the Manga vol.1 (chapters 4 and 5) as a base (obviously I can't use Jaden's deck with Kara!) and added in my own cards, which have the same ATK and DEF, and the spells and traps did the same as Jaden's in the manga, they just had different names. If you wanna know why Kara and Riolu were so frightened, or why a duel monster wept at the loss of another, well, you'll just have to wait and see ;D Muhahahahahahahahahaha! I'm so mean. Well, ok, no I'm not, I suck at being mean (Unless it's to my B***H of a mother and sister. Gee, I really don't like them Well, it's more my sisters fault than my mums…)


	8. The Dance

It's the weekend, so it means update time! ^_^

The next few weeks were more or less dedicated to the upcoming dance, as the teachers iron grasp on their students began to slacken, and all thoughts were of the entertainment. Ra Yellow had been assigned organisers of entertainment, placing sign-up slips in dorm common rooms and the notice board on campus for auditions. Maddie stood outside Proff. Banner's office, where the Slifer Red auditions slip was tacked to the wall. A few boys had signed up already, and Maddie thought she could contribute to the fun. Slowly, deliberately, she traced her name into the space provided in the red ink pen blutacked to the wall. She sighed afterwards, hoping Shara had got her message.

The Slifers had been placed in charge of decorating the main conference hall, the venue for the dance as it had been for years. After many meetings, out of sheer fun, they finally decided on a colour scheme. White snowflakes, silver streamers and purple paper chains were lovingly crafted and placed strategically around the walls. Rickety wooden ladders were used to gain height, and were soon proved dangerous as a few students wobbled, and Jaden took a tumble. Luckily, Squirtle, dropping the snowflakes he was carrying, blew a stream of bubbles, creating a soft landing. Other ladder-bound students saw this, and began falling deliberately, in order to be saved by Squirtle, who didn't mind at all because he had a paper cut.

Obelisk students came back and forth, carrying trestle tables and boxes and bowls of food, being in charge of catering. Bastion, completely frazzled out, tottered in carrying a large package wrapped in brown paper and a large clipboard. "Maddie! Package for you from…Shara?" Maddie bounded over, itching to take the package from him.

"Yay! Shara, you are a life-saver!" she cried, hugging the package.

"Oh, and…" Bastion said, pulling out a pen and writing on his clipboard, "what exactly are you going to do tonight for the entertainment?" Maddie clamped a hand to his mouth, half-whispering, "Shh! Not so loud. It's a kinda surprise, but it involves my pokemon. That's all I can really tell you." Bastion nodded, writing "Pokemon Surprise." On his board and said, "very well, your on after Alexis, Mindy and Jasmine in the running order, kay?" Maddie nodded, placing the package with the boys' jackets and continued working. By 4PM, everything was ready, and the students were allowed to go and get ready.

----------------

At seven o'clock…

----------------

Syrus and Jaden knocked softly on Maddies door.

"You ready Maddie?" Jaden called through the wood.

"You guys go on without me! I'll catch up!" Maddie called back. Jaden shrugged, pulling the collar of his jacket around his neck, " 'kay, but hurry up cause it's beginning to snow, and we don't want you to miss out on the fun!"

"I'll be about ten minutes, promise!" by the sound of her voice, Syrus could tell she was smiling.

"See ya!" Jaden called to her as he left. Syrus trotted behind him, glancing back at Maddie's door.

Students in there hundreds amassed into the hall, many were in casual clothes, jeans and hoodies for warmth, like Jaden and Syrus were, thought the third years, celebrating their last ever winter semester, went for more formal robes and dresses. The first part was more chelidh music, with lots of partners dancing a strip the willow, full of energy.

"Sweet!" Jaden grinned, fisting his palm in hyperness.

"Over here!" They turned to see Emily waving to them. Smiling, they went to sit with her. Emily was wearing a simple navy blue dress, black tights and converses, several barrettes keeping her hair in check.

"Where's Kara and Bastion?" Syrus asked, trying to make a conversation. Emily pointed to the middle of the floor, where Kara, completely swathed in a black dress, was spinning Bastion around with more force than anyone would think possible of an 8 year old girl. Riolu sat on Emily's knee, watching his mistress with a serene smile. With the final violin chord, everyone clapped the dance. Kara and Bastion walked back to the group, and they got a better look at Kara's dress. It was almost off the shoulder, with puffed, princess style sleeves, with about three or four petticoats, making it swell like a ball gown. The black belt was tied at the back by three large, purple (almost black) roses, two of which also adorned her hair. Black stud earrings and a full neck chocker completed the look. In short, she was like a gothic princess.

"Next we have the Dashing white sergeant. Get into sets of six and be ready for a fast fling!" an MC shouted into his microphone as the floor buzzed.

"Stay here." Kara stated to the group, and returned a few seconds later, partially tugging along an Obelisk blue boy. She gave a small smile,

"Max has kindly agreed to make up the six." She said, grabbing Syrus to make her set of three, artfully leaving Emily with Jaden and Bastion.

"Are you sure you can move freely in your dress Kara-chan?" Max asked, clutching her hand. Kara squeezed slightly, "yes, I can. I've practiced. Are you alright Syrus?" she suddenly turned her head, silver light scattering across her hair.

"Yes, I was just thinking about Maddie. I hope she's ok." He replied, gazing downward slightly.

"She'll be here." Kara commented as the dance begun.

--------

BACKSTAGE!! ^_^

--------

Maddie stood in one of the rooms the girls had for changing in with Alexis, Mindy and Jasmine. The two girls didn't talk to Maddie as they helped each other into their dresses, as they didn't know her very well. Maddie was already dressed, and was helping her pokemon with their little waistcoats.

"Aw, they're cute!" Alexis commented while trying to persuade her hair to ringlet.

"Thanks. Could I borrow your eyeliner?" Maddie asked, catching the pencil Alexis tossed. There was a knock on the door, yielding a Ra yellow girl wearing a hand-free mic. "Your on in two mins girls!" Alexis put her curling tongs down. "I give up!" and pinned her hair into twists, allowing it to be loose but not get in her face.

"Wish us luck!" Alexis called as she and her friends clicked out of the room in their sturdy dance heels. "Touch wood," Maddie murmured, opening her make-up box. She took a brush, and painted a mask of gold edged purple, creating sharp, jaggy edges. Turning to her pokemon, she painted masks on their faces, to match their jackets; Yellow for Raichu, Red for Chimchar, Blue for Squirtle and Orange for Pitchu. She took out her Diabolo and played it on the string nervously. Watching a small screen, she viewed Alexis dancing gracefully across the stage. Within minutes, they were bowing.

"Oh god. I'm on next." She heaved a sigh and walked dazedly past the three girls and onto the curtained stage.

"Good Luck!" Alexis whispered, giving her the thumbs-up. Maddie smiled, but didn't feel confident.

"It's just another poke contest." She told herself as the MC introduced her, and the curtain pulled back. The lights that shone were bright, so all she could see was darkness. She took up a ballet stance, he pokemon choosing a pose as they waited for the first notes of the backing track to kick in.

**Oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh ohhh oh ohh oh oh oh** Caught in a bad romance **Oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh ohhh oh ohh oh oh oh**

**Caught in a bad romance**

**Ra ra ah ah aahh, Roma roma-ma**

Ga Ga oh lala

**Want your bad Romance**

**Ra ra ah ah aahh, Roma roma-ma**

**Ga Ga oh lala**

Want your bad Romance

Maddie started moving forwards in jerky, robotic movements, her pokemon moving backwards. She held her red Diabolo to the sky, and then threw it up. Catching it in the string, she began to toss it about, trapping it in the string, performing great leaps to catch it.

**I want your ugly, I want your disease **

**I want your everything as long as it's free**

**I want your love**

**Love love love**

**I want your love**

**I want your drama, the touch of your hand**

**I want your leather studded kiss in the sand**

**I want your love**

**Love love love**

**I want your love**

**You know that I want you**

**And you know that I need you**

I want it bad, a bad romance

With a nod, Raichu and Pitchu flipped forward, emitting sparks that were scattered spectacularly as the Diabolo made contact, the crowd gasping in awe. Maddies heart beat quickened, adrenaline pulsing through her veins as she spun around, the Diabolo spinning around her head as Squirtle took over and created a whirlpool of water around her.

**I want your love aand**

**I want your revenge**

**You and me could write a bad romance**

**I want your love aand**

**All your lover's revenge**

**You and me could write a bad romance**

**Oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh ohhh oh ohh oh oh oh**

**Caught in a bad romance**

**Oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh ohhh oh ohh oh oh oh**

**Caught in a bad romance**

**Ra ra ah ah aahh, Roma roma-ma**

**Ga Ga oh lala**

**Want your bad Romance**

**Ra ra ah ah aahh, Roma roma-ma**

**Ga Ga oh lala**

**Want your bad Romance**

**I want your horror**

**I want your design**

'**cuz you're a criminal, as long as your mine**

**I want your love**

**Love love love**

**I want your love **

**I want your psycho**

**Your vertigo shtick**

**Want you in my rear window 'cuz baby your sick**

**I want your love**

**Love love love**

**I want your love**

**You know that I want you ('Cuz I'm a free bitch baby!)**

**And you know that I need you**

**I want it bad, a bad romance**

Maddie scattered the water, Squirtle backing off from her robotic movements again. She commenced throwing it in the air, using the string like a skipping rope. She got smatter of applause when she skipped ten times before catching her Diabolo.

**I want your love aand**

**I want your revenge**

**You and me could write a bad romance**

**I want your love aand**

**All your lover's revenge**

**You and me could write a bad romance**

**Oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh ohhh oh ohh oh oh oh**

**Caught in a bad romance**

**Oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh ohhh oh ohh oh oh oh**

**Caught in a bad romance**

**Ra ra ah ah aahh, Roma roma-ma**

**Ga Ga oh lala**

**Want your bad Romance**

**Oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh ohhh oh ohh oh oh oh**

**Caught in a bad romance**

**Oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh ohhh oh ohh oh oh oh**

**Caught in a bad romance**

**Ra ra ah ah aahh, Roma roma-ma**

**Ga Ga oh lala**

**Want your bad Romance**

**Ra ra ah ah aahh, Roma roma-ma**

**Ga Ga oh lala**

**Want your bad Romance**

**Walk, walk fashion baby**

**Work it, move that bitch c-razy**

**Walk, walk fashion baby**

**Work it, move that bitch c-razy**

**Walk, walk fashion baby**

**Work it, move that bitch c-razy**

**Walk walk passion baby, work it**

**I'm a free bitch baby**

**The pokemon formed a procession, stopping and jerking, cart wheeling and giving Maddie time to get into position.**

**She lay on the floor, the Diabolo on its side over its string.**

**I want your love and I want your revenge**

**I want your love**

**I don't wanna be friends**

**Je veux ton amour**

**Et je veux ta revenge**

**Je veux ton amour**

**I don't wanna be friends**

**I don't wanna be friends**

**I don't wanna be friends**

**Want your bad romance**

**Want your bad romance!**

**Maddie used the dance moves she'd seen in the music video, pouncing up and kicking her Diabolo. It rolled along and she caught it, tossing it into a frantic spin. This time, for the last chorus, all the pokemon used their energy to create an elemental orb around her.**

**I want your love aand**

**I want your revenge**

**You and me could write a bad romance**

**I want your love aand**

**All your lover's revenge**

**You and me could write a bad romance**

**Oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh ohhh oh ohh oh oh oh**

**Caught in a bad romance**

**Oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh ohhh oh ohh oh oh oh**

**Caught in a bad romance**

**Ra ra ah ah aahh, Roma roma-ma**

**Ga Ga oh lala**

**Want your bad Romance**

**Oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh ohhh oh ohh oh oh oh**

**Caught in a bad romance**

**Oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh ohhh oh ohh oh oh oh**

**Caught in a bad romance**

**Ra ra ah ah aahh, Roma roma-ma**

**Ga Ga oh lala**

Want your bad Romance

**Ra ra ah ah aahh, Roma roma-ma**

**Ga Ga oh lala**

**Want your bad Romance**

They moved for the last time, before stopping in a freeze finish to a deafening applause. Maddie blushed as she curtsied, her pokemon bowing. She was visibly shaking back stage, placing her pokemon into their balls for some rest before deciding to join the others. Kara did not look surprised, if anything, she looked rather bored, having seen the routine several times before in pokemon contests.

"That was amazing!" Jaden exclaimed as Maddie sat down. She blushed again, "Aw, gee…it's just a little bit of throwing and catching without falling over. It would've sucked without my pokemon." The others smiled. "You looked so confident." Syrus said, his eyes closing slightly, heightening the cuteness of the overall smile.

"Really? I didn't feel it." She replied, the blush deepening. Jaden heard the dancing start again. "C'mon Em!" he grinned, pulling Emily upright for a waltz.

"Aw, I'm out of energy. Seriously, where do you get yours from?" Jaden just chuckled,

" 'Kay, we'll go slow!" Kara had already whisked Bastion away before he could protest, steering him around the floor to keep an eye on certain people. That left Syrus and Madison at their table. Maddie felt strangely awkward, and began puling at her white and pink edged over elbow gloves.

"Hmn?" she turned to Syrus, her twin tails flicking with the movement. The heat rose in Syrus' cheeks as he steeled himself to ask again.

"Would you like to dance, Maddie?" she beamed,

"Sure!" and they got up. They'd had to do social dance for the past few weeks in gym, and it had paid off for most of the students. Syrus shyly placed his right hand around her waist and led her unrushed around the floor. Syrus seemed to have a great idea of what to do, so Maddie took the chance to look around at other couples. "Hah, I recognise _those_ gooey expressions!" she thought as she passed a couple of third years. Kara promenaded past her, winking. Maddie blinked, not knowing what Kara meant, but let it slide. She was having fun. Syrus spun her round, and they linked hands.

"So…" Maddie started, getting a little bashful with the close contact, "What're you doing for winter?" Syrus held her again and they proceeded down the long side,

"I'm going to see my grandparents. They live up near the mountains, and I'll see my brother Zane for the first time in months. You?"

"I'll be going skiing with my uncle and Kara at this resort place. We've been going since I was a tot, so it's kinda like tradition," she sighed, "except mum wont be there." She rubbed at a bit of mask make-up that she'd missed when wiping it off, then smiled, not wanting to touch on the subject.

"How did you learn to use a Diabolo?" Syrus asked. As Maddie explained, he found himself, against his will, tuning out of the conversation, only giving little noises of recognition. As he spun Maddie again, he admired her dress. It was white and flared, with a short pink frilled part that joined the skirt to the corset, which was in white and pink, and the three-tiered short sleeves that accented her shoulders. One of her twin tails threatened to wop him in the face, but he carefully avoided it.

"Sy?" he snapped back to meet Maddies gaze. She giggled.

"Yes?"

"I said, where'd you learn to dance?" she cocked her head charmingly to one side.

"Oh…my brother taught me. He used to make me the girl all the time…" he trailed off, embarrassed. Maddie smiled kindly, "Well, I suppose it would be difficult if both of you tried leading at the same time." They both laughed as they imagined the argument that would ensue. At the end of the waltz, they bowed/curtsied to each other, Maddie scuffing one of her white dance sneakers along the floor, stooping to re-tie one of the frilled pink ribbons.

The dance eventually had to come to an end, and it was very late. The students drifted to their dorms in twos and fours. Kara had fallen asleep on Bastion's lap, so he carried her, Riolu clinging to his back dozily. Maddie yawned as she walked back with Jaden and Syrus, talking about the dance to Maddie. Jaden was extremely tired, as he'd danced every dance since arriving, but he still had enough energy to jump about. Maddie and Syrus felt even more tired just watching him.

"I swear there's something he eats," Maddie whispered to Syrus as Jaden danced away.

"That's just Jay. Never a dull moment." Syrus giggled. In the moonlight, he looked so sweet it gave Maddie an almost uncontrollable urge to hug the breath out of him. She smiled, and gasped.

"You hear that?" she whispered.

"Hear what?" Syrus asked.

"A twig snapped."

"Probably the wind." Syrus yawned as they continued walking. Maddie couldn't help but look back behind her. There was a small breeze with the snow, but she was sure something was out there. Madison was right. Something, or should I say, some_one_, was out there. Mentally cursing himself, William crawled shivering from the foot of the tree he'd fallen out of. His breath curled as he watched Maddie enter her room. He crept up the stairs, and placed an ear at her door. Silently, he shoved a note under the door and then left, swallowed up by the winter night.

**Authoresses' Blah Blah Number…7!**

Well, I bet your glad I made this bit a separate chapter! I said it would be long, and, like, it is! I had a lot of fun with this, and there'll be pics of Maddie and Kara. Behold the Return of Emily's cameo! And I'm sorry your Cameo was so rubbish Max, I was gonna give you lines, but I suppose we can save that for another chapter, can't we? The song used here was "Bad Romance" by Lady GaGa, and I actually put it on and preformed the routine Maddie does, so it is humanly possible peeps! And, if you're confused, a Diabolo is a Chinese yo-yo. It's like two eggcups stuck together and you use two sticks joined with string to play with it. They're fun to play with, even if I had to use the Chinese State Circus on you tube to get those bits! ^^; Um…what else is there? Oh, I was gonna write about Alexis, Mindy and Jasmine's routine to Beyonce's "Single Ladies (put a ring on it)" and how Maddie learned to use a Diabolo, but it was getting really long, so I cut it out. I can always use the Diabolo explanation later if you want to know that badly (not that you would, lol!). Shara has also been mentioned again, you won't see her for a while yet. I'll keep mentioning tid-bits about her, so sorry there, Haha! :D So, um…. Maddie, anything to add?

Maddie: Erm… why did I act that way?

Oh, yeah, was that a good intro to the start of the romance? I normally go straight in there, but I'm holding my horses, figuratively speaking, and setting them up as good friends first before I let the fan girl in me loose.

Chazz: You neglected me!

Aw, yeah, sorry Chazz, I forgot all about you. I was so excited by Maddie's Diabolo. Still, you have a very important plot point sometime soon, so you should sorta do the ninja.

Chazz: The…ninja?

Yeah, be all sneaky like, silent, or one-liners until your plot point, yeah?

Chazz: Ok, yeah, I can do that!

I'm so hyper right now, Korean chocolate orange does that to me…actually, all foods make me hyper, or maybe I'm just naturally hyper, and the food makes me EVEN MORE hyper?! I dunno! ^_^

Kara: We would appreciate it if you would take time to review.

Riolu: Ri Riolu!

Kara, no one talks like that anymore, why do you do that? ¬_¬

Kara: You made me that way, remember?

Oh yeah, I remember why now! Thanks *kisses Kara's head*

So, we're on the threshold (Kara: See, you talk like me too sometimes!) of chapter 9, SQUEEEEEEE! Next chapter would've been appropriate at Christmas time, oh well.

See ya'll next week. Maybe.


	9. Christmas Holidays

_Okay-Dokay, this chapter is going to be flitting between the Oc's, Jaden and Syrus on their Christmas Holidays …lord, I hope this works! ^_^;_

The sky radiated a bright baby blue, the light reflecting off the perfect white snow. Madison scaled one such mountain that was marked off for skiing. She speared the ground with her poles and slid her dark green skates off her shoulder.

"Beautiful." She sighed, breath puffing from her lips. She clicked the skis to her black snow boots and stretched her UV goggles over her forest green hat, tying the cords under her chin, pulling her grey neck warmer up to cover her nose. Clutching a pole in each of her white-gloved hands, she was about to push off, but stopped. The country looked so pretty, she felt she had to at least stop for a few minutes to appreciate it after that hike up. Pulling a flash stick out of the breast pocket of her white and green jacket, she took a few snaps of the surrounding valleys and hills. Several hundred feet down, she could see her uncle teaching Kara to ski. Kara was immediately noticeable in her black against the snow, and so was hard not to miss. Taking in a deep, cold breath, she launched herself down the hill in a parallel plough, slowing only to avoid a few trees and other skiers. "WHOO-HOO!" she laughed, coming to a stop. Unclipping her skis, she cart wheeled in the snow, landing on her back, giggling as her pokemon watched her disapprovingly out of the window. It was much too cold for them, and they were bored with being shut inside for their own good.

**Skipping into the evening…**

Kara's damp feet padded on the wooden floor of the cabin, clad in her nightgown, having just arrived back with Riolu (who looked half drowned) from the onsen, she running a brush through his sleek fur. Dinner was their uncles' amazing Miso soup, with thick undon noodles and tofu, the full works.

"Maddie, there's a letter for you." Vellian murmured, almost passing it under the table. Maddie looked at it, eyes widening in surprise as she recognised her mother's handwriting. Shlurping up the last of the soup, she excused herself and locked herself away in her room. She tore at the small envelope, unfolding the three-page letter carefully and hungrily scanning the words, taking everything in.

_"... Everything's ok at the moment, the food's not as bad as everyone says, and the other patients are friendly (well, not Mr. Nishi, but he has embarrassing problems so I suppose it's compensation, Haha! ^_^…"_

Maddie laughed quietly at the small chibi drawings she knew her mother had a tendency to doodle over everything.

_" …The doctors say that my radio-therapy, THEORETICALLY, will have a 70% chance of success, so why oh why do they keep hitting my pancreas instead of my tumour? :S It really hurts and they've got me on these strong pain killers, you wouldn't BELIEVE the amount of side affects!…"_

At the mention of the monstrous tumour, Maddie felt a lump in her throat rise and stick. "How can she be so calm?" she wondered.

_"…I hope you and Kara are doing well at duel academy, and are settled. Your uncle and I spoke on the phone a while ago and he said you were managing well. I'm so proud of you and Kara…"_

She wiped a single tear that dared to blur her vision and continued, blowing her nose on a hanky.

_"…Now, don't forget to start and finish the water type pokemon part of your journal for your studies, I'd hate to see you fall behind just because I'm under the weather! :D I'm tough, I'll manage…hopefully…"_

"How can you think of my studies at a time like this mum?" she practically wailed a_t the paper_

_"Stay strong for me and Kara honey, and I'll see you in the summer. Love youuuu! 3 3 ! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX"_

The XOXOXOXOX started off neatly, but gradually scrawled off where her mother must've run out of energy. Heaving a shaky sigh, she turned at the sound of a knock. "Just a sec!" she called, frantically stuffing the letter out of sight and opening the door to reveal Kara and a now dry Riolu.

"You wanted my assistance sister?" she said, her brown orbs trained on Maddie's face, studying it closely. "Yup. Someone slid this under my door before we left duel academy. What do you and Riolu make of it?"

Kara took the small square of violet scented blue paper, and read the poem before passing it to Riolu.

"_Hail to thee,_

_Sweet Slifer blossom._

_Who doth grow within the garden of imbeciles. _

_Know how much my heart aches for you,_

_Like the sythe before the weeping tree._

_Just know this now my dear,_

_When we return, I shall seek you out my rose,_

_Resisting me, my bloom, shall spell your doom._

_All the love my heart has to offer,_

I remain yours"

"Hmn. Very poetic," Kara raised a sarcastic eyebrow, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Riolu took it, but immediately dropped it with a sharp bark, his hackles rising.

"RIOLU! RI-RI-RIOLUUUUU!" Maddie stared at him in shock.

"Riolu says," Kara began, catching Riolu into a gentle but firm headlock to calm his distress.

"That it-Stop squirming Riolu! - That it was written in the pit of spite and jealousy for no reason other than selfish greed and lust." She let him go, half-smiling, "That's very poetic Riolu, you should have offered to write this." Riolu let out a swear word, well, as real a swear word as a pokemon could use, and left the room. "I'll see you in the morning Maddie," Kara sighed as she quitted the room.

Maddie looked at the note for a while longer. "Who could it be? It can't be a Slifer, because they're being put down in this, and I don't think the Ra's would write something like this, so it must be an Obelisk. Of course, I could be wrong. What do you think?" she turned to her pokemon, who were snoring quietly. Sighing, she clambered into bed, pulling the thick eiderdown over her head. She didn't want to think of something like that just now, she had enough on her plate.

**Meanwhile, over at Jaden's…**

Jaden had had a great day. First of all, he'd had an amazing snowball fight with some friends who were in the neighbourhood, then he'd had his favourite for tea, and now he was sitting at his window seat in a black vest and his boxers, tracing the frost patterns on his window.

"I hope Syrus and Maddie are having a good time," he mused to himself. A small, white-winged, brown fuzz ball with two large, adorable eyes fizzled into reality beside his shoulder, nuzzling it with an affectionate "Chu!"

"Oh, hey Kuri, 'ol buddy 'ol pal!" he grinned at his spirit partner, "Today was sweet, would've been better if Sy had been able to come but…ah well, there's always next year huh?" Kuriboh nodded, leaping up and down, the wind he created ruffling Jaden's messy bangs.

"Jay, honey! It's half ten! Put your cards away and get some sleep!" Mrs. Yuki called up the stairs.

"Sure mum, night!" he called back. "Sweet dreams Kuriboh!" he whispered as he leaped into his bed and snuggled down into the covers. Kuriboh gave a little "Whoo!" ^_^ and fizzed back into the duel monsters spirit world.

…**And now with Syrus…**

A long chalet stood alone like a gingerbread house all sprinkled with icing sugar snow at the foot of a tall mountain range. On the other side of one of the small cross-sectioned windows, Syrus sat wrapped in a crocheted blanket, staring outside into the winder wonderland, thinking hard. Light from the soft candle beside him scattered off his bangs as he whipped round to his older brother, Zane, in the doorway, clutching a mug.

"Hey," he said quietly, "Obaba says it's minus 20 out there, and you're to use her blankets tonight, no matter how itchy they are." He raised an eyebrow at Syrus' whiney expression, who would rather go without than use those dreaded blankets. Syrus looked back outside, returning to his thoughts. He was so enveloped in them, he didn't notice Zane take a seat opposite him and shove the mug, containing their grandma's famous hot chilli cocoa, and spoke to him.

"Syrus?"

"Huh?"

"What's up? You've been so distant all fortnight."

"Oh," Syrus rubbed the back of his head, "I was just thinking of a friend of mine, who's skiing in mountains like ours. I was just hoping she was having a good time…"

Zane perked up, putting a seldom seen mischievous grin on, "Sooooo, a girl! I knew it, though I never thought _you'd_ have it in you!"

"I-it's nothing like that!" Syrus squinched up his eyes, blushing deep crimson in his discomfort, "We're just FRIENDS!"

"Oh suuuuuure!" Zane laughed, then decided he'd had is fun, "c'mon Sy, you know I love to tease you!" he said, ruffling his brother's hair good naturedly, "but you know, you shouldn't write yourself off the cards, we always said you were the cute one!" Syrus chucked a pillow at Zane, who caught it and placed it on his bed.

"Drink that up before obaba comes up and get some sleep, you've been looking peaky lately." And left to brush his teeth. Syrus sighed, swallowing the cocoa, feeling the hot liquid slide down his throat. He re-made his bed, taking great care to put the itchy blankets in-between the sheets. Turning on the old radio, he started changing the channels with the tuning knob.

"I do like Maddie," he thought as he listened to the radio, "but I think it's better off if we're friends…and not get any hopes up." He tuned out of the regular station.

"She's a lady…whoa whoa whoa she's a lady!"

No. He turned the dial again.

"… Feel it in my to-oes! Love is all around us-!"

No. Again, he turned the dial.

"Can't take my eyes off of you"!

"Me-e-e and mrs…Mrs Jo-ones!"

He began to switch between channels more frantically now.

"Gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love!"

No!

"Burn baby burn, disco infernooooo!"

"What the hell?" he whispered, blushing intensely as he took the power cord out. Zane back in, toothpaste framing his mouth as he sucked on his toothbrush.

"Wow, the chilli obaba put in affect you that quick?"

Syrus nodded, not wanting to explain. He climbed into his bed, wriggling into a warm spot. He didn't want to chance the radio, but soon fell asleep to his brother's gentle breathing in the bed on the opposite side.

With everybody…

Dreams carried themselves to the three teens, eager to confuse them. Syrus dreamt of a young girl in a white dress, calling and reaching out to him, yet moving backwards three steps to his every one forward, perplexing him immensely. Maddie returned to her knight, witnessing his terrifying demise of what must've been the one-hundredth time, and Jaden…well, he dreamt he was eating a steaming bowl of ramen and shrimp tempura, so, he was the only one who got a full nights rest.

**Authoresses' Blah Blah number…8!**

WHOOOHOOOO! I made it this far with GX WITHOUT the flamers! *Dances* HELL YEAH! ;D I'm actually really happy with how this turned out, considering it took longer (2 days) than my other written chapters. DAMN YOU CHEMISTRY NAB! Which I passed! ^_^ The uh…ahem…poem that William wrote was pretty lame, but I was never good at writing poems, so…it's actually quite good for me, and I'm sorry if Zane is a bit OOC, I just can't make him cold to Syrus on CHRISTMAS! :'( Well, I fail at making characters properly evil now, I'VE GONE SOFT! I've got my deviantArt schedule finished before the deadline, so I'm kinda like a little lost lamb, wanting to draw, so I'll be showing my fave manga/anime some love through fan art until my next schedule comes up to start. I've also run into problems with AOL, they say there's a problem with my software, and won't let me on the net. Because of this, I can't get my e-mails, so if I don't reply/review, I cannot apologise enough, but will work overtime to read and review when I can get online again.

"Hang on a moment! How's she updating?" Well, you may well ask. So go on, ask! One word as an answer: SCHOOL…and BROADBAND. Two words, so SUE ME! D lol, kidding, but yeah, I'm reduced to using the net when we're supposed to be working, but I can multitask, I'm a girl, it's what we do best! (Oh, sorry, that was kinda stereotypical, there ARE boys who can multitask, they just don't do it as well, because of the way our minds are wired up.) Jeez, I can ramble can't I? Well, I'll see you in chapter 10, or whenever my Internet decides to work! BYEEEEEEEEE! XDDD


	10. Black Beach

_Right-e-oh, onwards to chapter 10! We're into double digits, yays! ;D_

The cold grip winter had on the world slowly began to give way to the garden of spring. Trees began to bloom, crocuses carpeted the ground, and all the animals began to court one another until even the skies turned rosy with love. Even at Duel Academy, Lady Winter had no power.

In her room, Kara sat, perfectly poised, on her bed, Riolu on her lap. She brushed his downy fur, listening to the deep rumble of pleasure from his throat. Presently, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." she called, placing the brush on the table beside her. Bastion poked his head round the door.

"You ready?"

"Yes," she said, standing up and smoothing down her clothes. For once, Bastion saw her without a dress. She wore a knee length, black, flared, cotton skirt with a couple of petticoats and a black halter neck top that had an attached choker piece, with a long sleeved black bolero over her arms for warmth, "stay Riolu." She commanded while putting some gloves on. Riolu sat down again, pulling out a book with a rather disgruntled "Riii."

"You look nice Kara," Bastion commented, feeling incredibly casual in his jeans, green polo neck and zip up hoodies.

"Thank-you…you know, I haven't had a man compliment me since… a very long time." She replied, a slight flush of colour appearing on her porcelain skin. Bastion was surprised, sure, Kara was only eight, but with her pale skin, amazing hair and well-structured face, she was very pretty.

"I'm guessing you don't know many nice guys."

"Oh, not at all. The only ones I know are so crude, all they want to do is ridicule and mock me because of what happened."

"What did happen to you Kara? If you don't mind me asking." She halted from their walk, looking about her as if expecting a crowd.

"Not here," she stated, looking afraid. "That tree there," she pointed, "I'll race you." And she was off, Bastion hard after her. They ended up tying, but Kara wasn't done yet. Taking a running leap, she found some good hold on the tree, and began to climb. For all her skirts, she was astoundingly agile. "Here." She stated, sitting on a thick branch. A few minutes later, Bastion had joined her. "I feel safer here." Bastion nodded, saying nothing, as he wasn't too keen on heights.

" I used to love colour, in fact, yellow was my favourite because it was so happy. But when I was very, very young, about three, my papa was killed. It was no-ones fault, you must understand, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with. I didn't understand at the time, all I knew was that papa had left us, and it had made mama very sad. That made me sad, as I loved and still love my papa very much, and I felt alone. At school, people wouldn't speak to me. They didn't know what to say, and I was labelled 'the girl with no dad' and some people used to laugh at me for crying all the time, and sometimes they resorted to violence. I would climb trees to get away from them; witch is why we're up here right now, because I feel more open to conversation up here. I was sent to school one day, dressed in black because I'd just come from papa's funeral, and all the people who'd hurt me for months on end avoided me like a dog with rabies. I started to wear black everyday, and found it easier to get on. No one wanted to be with me, but I found I didn't want them. All I needed was papa's Riolu and my black. I now feel that I'm safe in this colour," she choked back a small sob, "but I'm really scared Bastion. I want so much to escape from myself, but if I stop wearing black, they'll start again, and I don't think I could spend another five years up some trees." She pulled at a twig, bending it into knots.

Bastion's heart went out to Kara. "But couldn't you have said something to Maddie, or your mother?" she shook her head, "Mother was too sad, and Maddie was looking after mama. I didn't want to make her sad too." Bastion placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump slightly. "Kara, you don't need to be scared anymore. You know you can talk to me, and sometimes that's all it takes. You don't have to immediately switch overnight, we're creatures of habit and routine, we couldn't do that, so just take it one little step at a time. The first thing is that you want to change, most people don't even want that." he took off on of Kara's gloves and pressed something into her delicate fingers, closing them in a fist around it.

"These brought me good fortune for years, and I think you should have them." Kara swallowed hard, opening her fist. Nestled there was a string of beads, shiny and in a warm colour. She suspended them, fingering each individual bead. "Yellow." She whispered, smiling properly for the first time in five years. Kara's lips properly bent upward, parting slightly in the middle, her cheeks lifted, her eyes closed slightly and sparkled and her eyebrows arched. A proper smile at that was breath taking to see. Bastion smiled too. "Honey Jade." He stated, looping them about Kara's wrist, then placed her glove back on, covering them up. "If you feel scared, you can always cover them up, and everyone will be none-the-wiser." They both descended out of the tree, and Kara hugged Bastion, tears welling up inside her.

"Thank-you, my friend, thank-you!"

* * *

TIME JUMP XDDDDDDD

* * *

_"Would you please make sure you check your seat numbers BEFORE your exam, and notify Miss Hibiki of any clashes with your exam timetable. Those are all the announcements, have a great day."_ The intercom fizzled out. "Great day, a swinup's butt it is!" Maddie growled as her last class ended, signalling freedom. Maddie met Jaden and Syrus in the Canteen, taking a mug of tea and a biscuit of replenish her sugar levels before some serious study. Maddie was always stressed post examinations, and that most definitely did not help her mood at all.

"Finally, the company got my pics developed." Jaden smiled, opening the forwarded envelope. Inside, he had photos from winter vacation. He showed them to Maddie and Syrus, commenting on them.

"Ah, this the last one. There was so much snow, all of us in the street made a communal igloo, and there was enough snow for a Kuriboh and Chimchar too. I did start on Pitchu, but I ran out of snow, and didn't want to steal snow from others. Maddie examined the snow creatures, a strained smile tugging her lips in her stress, "Wow, you're artistic, and you're really good with your hands Jay!" some second year Slifers, who were seated nearby, burst into snorting laughter at Maddie's comment. Maddie inched her head to face them, pure murder plastered across her face, her eyes full of fire. She gave a sharp, barking, sarcastic laugh, "Oh, hahaha-ha-ha-ha. Veeery mature-DUMB ASSES!" the two boys made a run for it, still laughing.

"You ok Maddie?" Syrus asked timidly, wanting to pat her hand but being too afraid to. Maddie pinched the bridge of her nose, leaning on her elbow.

"No, I'm not ok Sy. I'm just…urg. I get like this with big tests. I'm not a great person to be around when I'm stressed like this. I'd better go, before I actually kill someone. I'll see you guys later, maybe." She slid off her chair and sashayed off, her tea cold and untouched.

"Poor Maddie. She's really not having a great day." Jaden sighed, absent-mindedly drinking Maddie's stone cold tea, "There must be something that we can do to help. I certainly don't get stressed by these finals."

"But bro, that's because you normally do the re-sits in another two months," Syrus stated, taking Maddie's mug from him.

"Good point. But this year, I don't plan on taking re-sits." Syrus almost fell off his chair in surprise.

"How come bro? You're not usually that bothered."

"Well," Jaden rubbed the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed, "Emily's been helping me study since we got back from vacation, and I don't want to let her good teaching go to waste."

"Are you sure that you just don't want to let her down?" Syrus teased, a smile growing on his lips. Jaden flushed slightly, "nooooooo. Like I said, she's a good teacher, and I don't want her to have wasted it. I'm telling the truth Sy!" he stood up and drained Maddie's mug.

"Sure bro, what ever you say." And stood up too. As they headed for their dorm, Syrus started testing Jaden, and he was astounded by Jaden's textbook responses.

"Wow. Emily really has got you listening." Jaden grinned, "I know, she's so sweet. She's also been teaching me how to stay awake during exam time, and not crack under stress." Sy perked up at the word 'stress'.

"What's she say about it then?"

"About stress? Well, when you're revising, you should do about forty-five minutes, because that's how long the brain can concentrate or something like that, and that you should take a break in between."

"Maddie's been studying non-stop all day, even for Chemistry, and that's her best subject." Syrus said, "She's revising even now."

Jaden shook his head, "no wonder she's stressed out. We need to get her to forget about the finals of about an hour. That ought to do it. But what could we do? If we even mention duelling, we'll set her off again. What could we do?" Jaden pondered, tapping his chin.

"How about the beach at the cove? Maddie always said she loved the beach." Syrus suggested. It was more or less true. During one Chemistry lesson, they'd studied Covalent Network Structures, and in particular, Silicone Carbide. Maddie had pointed out that Silicone was the main component and that there was more than one quintillion particles in one grain of sand. At the word sand, she'd looked like a light had been lit inside her, and soon enough, she confessed her love of the beach. "I used to play commando's with my dad at the beach in Blossom Town when I was small, then Kara joined in when she could walk."

"Good idea! Let's go kid nap her!" Jaden grinned, charging up the stairs.

Maddie was at her desk, cracking under revision stress. Raichu had hidden under the bed. He knew all to well what happened when Maddie took a stress related rant, and it did his nervous disposition no good at all. Even hyper Chimchar didn't want to go near her mistress in the state she was in. Jaden and Syrus came in, Chimmie immediately leaping for Jaden. Raichu gave a squeak of hello to Syrus, still too afraid to come out.

"Oh hey guys. Need something?" Maddie turned to them.

"Yes, we are officially kidnapping you!" Jaden grinned, pulling Maddie up, covering her eyes with his hand.

"Guuuys?" Maddie asked.

"It's a surprise." Syrus whispered, taking her hand gently. They made a strange procession down the road, though it was easy going most of the way. Maddie could smell salt and hear crashing waves. She had no idea where she was. Syrus let go and Jaden uncovered her eyes to reveal a beach. Her jaw dropped in astonishment. "How did I not know this was here?" she thought. Sure, she knew she was on an island, but WOW! She ran about in circles, then cart wheeled and landed on her butt, laughing. "Oh my god! This is amazing!" She got back up and ran towards them, smiling joyously.

"OH! We should play EXTREME TAG!" Maddie cried, a huge grin on her face, her eyes wide and sparkly. Within minutes Maddie had phoned everyone she knew would be interested. Kara, Emily and Bastion arrived first, followed closely by Jeremie and Max and Alexis came a few seconds after.

"I'm on a sugar high, so let's do this!" Alexis cried, full of hyperness. With the most amazing system of put a foot in, Jaden was it first. In extreme tag, the person that gets tagged is on the team, the taggers numbers increasing until everyone is it. Jaden made a running sweep of everyone before glomping Emily, shouting "TAG!" Emily and Jaden made a joint effort to catch Kara, who caught Bastion, as he was close by, and they worked like a pack of wolves to catch Syrus and Jeremie. Only Maddie and Alexis, the fastest of the girls, were left. "You guys take Maddie, me and Jeremie will take Alexis!" it wasn't a fair divide, but Jaden knew Maddie had some tricks up her sleeves when it came to games like these, so more people should work to catch her, whereas Alexis, however hyper, had a straight strategy consisting of "RUN LIKE HELL IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!" so she'd be easy enough to catch, at least in theory anyway.

Emily, Max, Kara and Bastion were tailing Maddie, trying to pincer her between them, while Alexis was dodging attempts to catch her by Jeremie and Jaden. Her sugar high was taking her at amazing speed. Maddie looked behind her to see how close her taggers were, and that was her mistake. She hadn't seen Syrus, who was also part of the tag team, coming at her in front until she looked round. There was no time to break and change direction, so she ploughed into him. They both went head over heels down the dune, coming to a stop at the bottom. Syrus lay on his back, blushing madly as Maddie was on top of him, their bodies touching at strategic points. Maddies eye twitched.

"Uh…tag?" Sy said, patting her forehead slightly. Maddie dissolved into laughter, her forehead resting on Syrus' as she giggled uncontrollably. Sy's blush deepened by about five gazillion shades, but felt a sudden urge to put his face closer to Maddies. Surprising it was difficult, but he screamed "FRIENDS!" in his head and gave Maddie a nudge. She was shaking from laughing so hard, she was easy to move. Rolling onto her back beside him, she kept laughing. The others appeared at the brow of the dune.

"Come on guys!" Max called, "We still have to catch Alexis!"

"M'kay!" Maddie gasped, remembering to breathe. She stood up and pulled Sy with her.

"You ok? Sorry about that!" she smiled, brushing sand out of his hair.

"I'm fine…" he began, "I think" he said to himself. Maddie was off again, homing in on Alexis, whose sugar high was wearing fast. She was eventually caught when she found herself sandwiched in between them all and was set upon by the eight people, a massive group shout of "TAG!" finally ending the game, and not a moment too soon. The sun was beginning to set, casting a beautiful fiery glow over everyone and everything. Even Kara's cheeks looked rosy in the light. They all had to go their separate ways to their dorms for dinner.

"So, feeling better?" Jaden asked Maddie.

"Huh?"

Syrus coughed, still blushing. Jaden explained, " We thought you should have a rest, you were so stressed about the finals, and Sy said how much you like the beach, so he suggested we take you there." Maddie grinned and hugged them both while they still walked,

"God you guys! You're both so sweet. You can read me like the latest romance novel Sy, I swear!" Syrus felt himself heating up again. To be honest, he quite liked the way he went all tingly whenever Maddie smiled at him or hugged him, but was still unsure of himself. "Best leave it 'till the finals are done and dusted." He thought, thought his heart immediately protested.

* * *

On the cliff tops, directly above the beach, Chazz stood alone in the sunset, protected from the chilling breeze of the ocean by Light and Darkness Dragon's strong wings. Alexis had invited him to come when she'd received the call, but he'd declined, telling her that if she wanted to act like a little kid, then she could do so without him. After all, he had a reputation to keep up. But that didn't stop Chazz wishing he could've swallowed his pride and gone with her. He'd watched them laughing and playing together, and suddenly felt like a small child again. He remembered little kids his own age playing with his older brothers, but they had not wanted him to join in. He could smell the roses again as he imagined his small, juvenile self, sitting on a bench with duel cards in his hands. A small shadow had fallen across him.

"Would you like to play with me? I'm alone too." He snapped out of his reverie and looked about, eyes wide. Her voice didn't sound like the high squeak that had been in his memory, but like the deeper, sexier tone it had taken on in her teen years. But he was alone with his duel spirit. "Ha. I'm _hallucinating_ about her now." His partner lifted its two-tone head and kissed Chazz on the head, emitting a soft "Rwar. Rrrrr-rrrrr." He looked up into the one red, one blue eyes and spoke like a child.

"You know it's not allowed." Then his tone became more mournful as he looked out to the ocean again, "besides, when I spoke to her two months ago, I told her to get on the dating scene, to find someone else, that I tried and failed to keep her. Father won't even think of such a match. You know how it hurts, don't you?" he asked his dragon. A single tear fell from the white half's blue eye, patting onto Chazz's cheek. He wiped it off, some of his own tears taking its place. "I know. Me too." He murmured. A guttural roar of despair ruptured from the dragon as it vanished from the world, leaving Chazz on his lonesome.

**Authoresses Awesome Blah Blah number…9!**

Whoooohooo! Double digits! This is the longest GX orientated X-over I've ever written! :D we should party!

Anyways, wheeeeeeee, romance!!!! XDDDDD Haha, I've just had a tunnock's teacake (MY GOD THEY ARE AMAZING!) so, as you can probably guess, this part is going to be mental! I thought the best way to get Sy flustered was if Maddie fell on him, and the only way I could think of getting that to work was if they did something where she'd fall, and the only answer I saw was EXTREME TAG! *Dramatic gladiator music* god, I love that show! And I just added the bit with Chazz. I quite like it, but the real bulk of this sub-plot is to come later, but I suppose this will make a good intro, no? Ach, I was trying not to put any chemistry in, but it just sorta snuck in of it's own accord. Damn. ^_^; Well, if you want, you can search up about it, as it's really interesting, and all true *nods intelligently*. I've managed to fill 7 word document pages with this chapter, huzzah! Well, you know the drill by now peeps; let's have those awesome reviews! ^_^


	11. Evolution

_Yay! We made it to chapter 11. My update would've been sooner, but I had a math NAB, so that kinda took priority, but I've passed it now, so good stuff! ^_^ I'm actually gonna do some more cannon characters in this chap; I need to give them more love dammit!_

"Time Witch, take down Magnesium Mongoose!"

Maddies life points were knocked to 3000 as her poor mongoose vanished in a blast of white light from the examiner's attack. "oh no you don't," Maddie thought, "I've been practicing with Jaden and Syrus waaay to much to lose this now!" To be fair, she'd lost to her 'teachers' a lot more than she'd drawn or won, but she was too determined to get this one win to get a b+.

"I activate the trap card Beryllium Sphere from my hand, and with it I can summon the monster Cobalt cat Combatant (Atk: 1000 Def: 1000), now that I have two monsters (Iron Horse Atk: 2000 Def: 1500) I can trade them in with the spell card atom fusion to call forth ZIRCONIUM ZEBRA!" (Atk: 2000 Def: 1500) The black and silver metallic zebra, about the size of a shire burst from a cloud of sparks into a three-legged stance, one front leg suspended in the air.

"but I'm not yet done! By equipping Zirconium Zebra with Phosphorous faceplate, I can add an extra 1000 attack points. Now Attack his time witch!" a golden glow surrounded the zebra's head, a gold coloured, medieval style face plate with one strong, brick red, metal plume (symbolising a unicorn's horn). The zebra reared, springing out to the field, ramming the spike into the witch, who screamed as she exploded into a thousand shards, her masters life points also dropping to 3000. but before Maddie could end her turn…

"I play the reverse time trap card! And because your pretty zebra didn't exist last turn, it shall be removed from play, and you shall have your two 'trade ins' back." Maddies jaw dropped at her stupidity. She slapped her face with her left hand, forgetting her duel disk, which smacked her in the head. She blinked dumbly as the Time witch returned to the field. Then a time Wizard was activated. As they were partner monsters, their ability allowed them to attack together, Maddies life points hitting a gruelling 400.

"Come on Maddie!" Jaden shouted from his seat.

"Yeah, don't let that put you off!" Syrus added, both trying to stop Maddie panicking, because she fell apart when she started to panic.

"What do I do?" she didn't have anyone beside her to suggest her next move now. She stared at her hand helplessly. Two spells, a trap and a monster. "Hmn… I wonder…"

"I play the spell card Emerald eyes. I can draw two more cards and add them to my hand. If one is a level 4 or below monster, I can play it in defence mode." She drew. "yes! I summon Lead Llama to the field and put down one face down. Let's see you handle this!"

"Hmn… getting a bit cocky now dear. Time wizard, attack the llama." But before the wizard could skewer the llama with his sceptre, Maddie played her facedown.

"Hydrogen Bond, activate! You forced me to put most of my monsters into the graveyard earlier on, but now I can use that against you. By removing them from play, and sacrificing all my monsters on the field, I have enough power to advance special summon my ELEMENTAL DRAGON!" (Atk: 3000 Def: 3000) The great dragon rose from it's light, a deafening roar resonating round the hall. A few other duellists, who were being examined at the same time, stopped to watch the great beast. You could see the other monsters incorporated into the creature, the stripes of the zebra, the black of the iron horse, the blue of the cobalt.

" Her special ability makes her immune to all your spells and traps, though that will be deactivated, as I still have to pay half my life points to make up for the advance summon (LP 200). Now I can show you what she can really do. By sacrificing herself, she automatically takes the equivalent monster or monsters out with her, reverting their attack points into damage to the player." Before the examiner could react, the Dragon made a beeline for the Witch and Wizard. By hooking them in each wing, she crushed them before disintegrating into diamond shard that flew at the opposition, hammering him until his life points hit 0.

"Well done dear. That's a pass." He stated, re-shuffling his deck as he waited for his next student.

Maddie ran for her friends, hugging them tightly.

"Oh my god, oh my god you guys! Thank-you SO SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOO much for teaching meeeeee!" They walked back to their dorm, as the exams were officially over, they got extra free time to recover, and went to Maddies room. When they got there, the place was very messy. Maddie blinked, looking at Raichu first. He blew air and huffed, denying anything to do with it. Pitchu suddenly streaked under his feet, causing him to jump and dig his shadow claw into the ceiling.

"Pitchu! Did you do all this?" she asked, arms akimbo. Pitchu continued to whiz around, squealing incoherently and leaving a comet trail behind him.

"Has he had caffeine?" Jaden asked.

"Nah, he's gonna evolve. Someone help me catch him!" Maddie called, chasing the pokemon. After a bit, they managed to wrap Pitchu in a jumper, pulling him outside into the sunlight. Maddie pulled a rune out of her pocket and nudged to towards Pitchu gingerly, who snatched it up quickly.

"A thunder stone." She stated, "Aids the evolution of an electric-type when there's no thunder storm."

"Uh, Maddie?" Syrus asked apprehensively, "What do you mean, evolution." She took his hand and swung it slightly, "You'll see!" she winked, blushing slightly.

Maddie jumped up and down as she watched her little electric type pokemon lengthen, ears narrowing, face becoming more pronounced and tail thickening and browning at the bottom. Before long, Pitchu had changed so much, he was unrecognisable.

"Pikachu!" he squealed, as the rainbow mist left him. Maddie picked up her pokemon, hugging him tightly. "Well done baby." She whispered to the little yellow pokemon. "You're ready to learn." She turned to her friends, amazed by the process of evolution.

"Wanna watch us train?" they nodded, willing to see how pokemon worked. Within minutes, they were back on their beach, Maddie looking more like she was at home.

"Ok, let's start off simple with dig. Now, Raichu, show Pikachu what to do." Raichu nodded and was gone in seconds, leaving nothing but a trail of sand behind him.

"See?" Maddie said to her pokemon, "you need to move your arms like this," she started swimming in the air, "but not so fast that you get tired out. Now give it a go!" it took rather a long time, Pikachu needing to bulk up his non-existent muscles. It was very hot, the height of summer was not far off, and running in a uniform like Maddies was soon proven to be difficult.

"Hey guys!" Maddie called, unbuttoning her vest and taking off her boots, "look after these will you?" and she was off again, in a small, white strap under vest and bare feet. Jaden didn't really pay attention; he was busy with Chimchar, who was showing him what she could do on a formation of rocks, and talking with his duel spirit (whom Chimchar could see), so it was only Syrus who really watched. He was fascinated by the trial and error that Maddie did with Pitchu…Pikachu even (he was gonna find it hard to get used to a new name) and wondered why pokemon trainers hadn't given up long ago, if it was this hard to train pokemon. Still, he enjoyed watching Maddie; she looked so carefree, doing what she knew best. Eventually, Pikachu's dig was beginning to show signs of improvement. Unfortunately, the beach was starting to look like Swiss cheese. Maddie, covered in sand and grinning madly, decided to call it a day, and they headed back to the dorms for dinner. Maddie shivered as a cold breeze suddenly whipped at her bare arms, blustering her hair into her face. She smacked into something without realising.

"Oh!" she stared stupidly at the offending tree, before Syrus backtracked to her.

"You ok?" he shouted above the wind, now blowing gale force.

"I think so, I'm so clumsy!" Maddie giggled, rubbing her head. Syrus slightly shook his head in slight disagreement, and offered his hand. Maddie gladly took it, not wanting anymore run ins with any of the other trees, and allowed herself to be guided back in the failing light. Her fingers felt ice cold against Sy's warm hand, and she squeezed her fingers into his hand for more heat. She felt Sy return the squeeze before he let go, as they'd reached the dorms.

**Meanwhile, in the girl's Obelisk dorms…**

Alexis sat on the edge of her bed in her black polo neck vest and some purple shorts she'd made, sewing some lace around the heart-shaped apron that was on a small mannequin. She was completing a Tokyo Mew Mew Zakuro (as a café maid) cosplay costume for an Anime convention she was going to in the summer, her and some friends and relatives were filling in the other Mew Mew's and as the baddies for some skits they were to perform. Chazz sat on her window seat, talking with her about anything and everything. Alexis could see he was in one of his rather lonely moods, and had allowed him to visit her. Up until now, he'd more or less been silent, giving little depressed sighs and looking forlorn.

"Chazz, seriously, what's up? I've never seen you look like this…well…I did once, but that was when that girl dumped you for another guy-" she stopped sewing as it suddenly dawned on her. Twisting her lips into a huge grin, she set down her work and moseyed over to sit opposite him,

"Chazz, you gotta crush on someone!" Chazz's head snapped round momentarily,

"Shut it Lex!" she barked, turning to look at the lake again. As he didn't deny it, Alexis assumed he was admitting it in his own stubborn way. She picked up the apron again, and went back to her sewing. A long silence passed by, punctuated by Chazz breathing and the soft _Plik! Plik! Plik!_ Of Alexis' needle. Finally, Chazz ran a hand through his hair, making the tousled mass even more rumpled, and spoke.

"I can't forget her. I need to, but I can't. I hear her talk to me sometimes…I can't concentrate, I don't want to eat…to sleep… It's not allowed DAMMIT!" he slammed a fist on the seat.

"Gee. You got it bad." Alexis stated. Chazz hid his face in his hands. Alexis patted his shoulder comfortingly.

"She's one lucky girl if she's got you worked up like this. I can see how much you care for her, but how can it 'not be allowed'. Surely your dad wouldn't control your love life as well? Hold this for me will you?" they both stood up, Chazz holding the apron by the straps so Alexis could tie the huge bow at the back.

"Don't you believe it. My future career here is also in the balance. He wants me to go to a business college, like my brothers did, but I don't want to do that. I want to duel. If he took me to that college, I'd never see her again, and that's what he wants.

I…I just want her to be happy. If it means walking away from everything that's wanted from me, then I'd do it. I'd go anywhere with her. She was with me everywhere, encouraging me, and teaching me things about real life. When I was in high school, which is when all the fighting started, she told me that if I loved duelling, I should go, and that she'd wait for me to come home in the summer. Father figured it all out, so he switched our permanent home into a holiday one, which we hardly visit. If he thinks he can flush her out of my life, he's wrong. I'll _never _let that happen!" his fingers curled round the straps, crushing them. Alexis quickly disengaged him from the apron, smoothing out the creases lovingly.

"Thanks for listening Lex." Chazz said, looking close to tears as he walked out.

"Where you going?" Alexis asked, clutching the apron to her worriedly.

"I'm going to…for a walk." He finished. That meant the cliff top. He wanted to be alone. When he was gone, Alexis placed the apron on her bed and sighed. Though they were only a few months apart in age, they shared a bond that was similar to that between brothers and sisters. Alexis, only having her wilder older brother, needed someone to 'look after' an instinct she'd gained from her mother, while Chazz, having next to no love from his elder brothers, sought someone he could trust with his fears, his dreams, every worry or happy exclamation, however stupid, so they found they could look after one another very well.

**In the wards of Domino City Central Hospital…**

"Just this way Mr. Crowler," a nurse said, arms bristling with gauze swabs as she led Vellian to his sister's bedside. "Dr. I've a PHD in duelling." Vellian muttered under his breath. He hadn't got it in him at the moment to complain.

"Sister, there's a blood relative to see Mrs. Joy" the nurse said to another nurse who sat in her small office square.

"Thank-you sister. This way please." And she set off briskly, "I warn you, she's had some morphine, so she may be a bit sleepy, out of it, basically pretty groggy, so be sure to use small words while she's like this…Amelia, there's a man to see you." She changed from hasty to a soft whisper as she pushed a door open to let Vellian in, before closing it behind him. The walls were a soft warm pink colour, the lino floor reeking of strong disinfectant. On the wide hospital bed, caged in by high plastic sides, under the blankets, Amelia Joy lay, sinking into her pillows, blankets under her oxters, arms limp and lifeless by her side. Her bubblegum pink hair, identical to Maddies in shade and volume, was kept in two low bunches, framing her thin neck. Her normally sparkling blue eyes were dull, red rimmed through pain and lack of sleep, were little slits, the sight barely registering anything. Sweat beaded in torrents on her forehead, her breathing shallow and ragged, her skin even paler than Kara's healthy porcelain. Vellian gently sat on a chair beside her, wiping wisps of fringe from her feverish face.

"V…Vel?" she whispered coarsely, her fingers searching for him feebly. He placed a strong hand in hers, gently gripping the fingers to prove he was really there.

"I'm right here Ame, I'm right here." He cooed. She gave a wan smile, before emitting a short, high squeal of pain. The morphine, no matter how strong, wasn't quite enough.

"Maddie…Kara?" she questioned.

"They're fine Ame. They passed their tests today." Amelia smiled, squinching her eyes, "love…love"

"Yes, they love you, and I love you sis." He gently kissed her forehead, tears forming. He remembered his sister as a strong woman, capable of anything, but to now see her laid so low by and illness, a complete shadow of who she was, it just wasn't fair! She smiled again, waiting for her brother to continue. When he didn't, she called out, a note of fear crescendoing, "Vel? VEL? VELL!"

"I'm here, I'm here! It's ok Amelia, I'm right here."

"Scared! I'm…Scared. It's hurts! Stop it hurting!" she was having another of her episodes. Convulsing under the blankets, a sudden surge of power making her clamp to Vellian's hand, tight and restricting. Vellian turned the tap on her IV, letting more Morphine and other sedatives to seep into her system. Her screaming gradually died down, her brow unfroze and she began to sleep. Tears spilled over onto her pillow from Vellian's eyes.

"That's it sis. Sleep now. I'll make the pain go away." A nurse, hearing the screaming, came in to see the problem had been solved. For now.

"I thought you should know," she said, handing him a box of hankies, "that the tumour isn't responding to the radio therapy and drugs like we hoped. We only have two options: Operate and hope the surgeons remove every bit of cancer, or let her die with dignity. She's going into theatre tomorrow morning. I'm so sorry." She let herself out to allow Vellian to deal with his emotion. After some good crying, he spoke thickly to his sleeping sister, "I can't choose for you to die. You are Maddie and Kara's just as much as mine. I don't want you to leave us." He placed her palm on his forehead, trying to re-create the comforting gesture that Amelia had always used on him when they were younger. He didn't realise when sleep took him too, all he was aware of was the desire for his sister to recover.

**Authoresses Blah Blah Number 10! XD**

Yay, a blah blah in DOUBLE DIDGETS! XD I want to dedicate this chapter to my Granddad, who was taken to the angels by cancer just last year. It still feels like yesterday that I got told at school that I'd lost him. I just know he's giving me that hilarious grin of his right now. He always loved and encouraged my creativity and expression of my feelings in song, dance, music, acting, art and writing and was always first to see something new. Love ya gramps! :D

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I wanted to give Chazz and Alexis some relationship to each other without pairing them (I don't really like the pairing that much… ¬_¬ ) :¬) - new smiley! XDDDDD so the first thing I thought of was a brother/sister relationship, which I have with a good guy friend of mine. He's like my baby brother, even though he's only younger than me by 4 months and 5 days…

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Jaden's referring to "Over the Hedge" where Hammy the squirrel gets totally hyper on the caffeine drink, so he's thinking maybe Pitchu would react in a similar way.

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Once again, the duel is based off of the GX manga (Jaden Vs. Chazz) in vol. 1, with monsters, spells and traps that I've totally made up. That means the action sucks and is corny, but Hey! I like it! :D Well, it's my story; I'm allowed to like it! Anyways, before I go off on a tangent, hope you guys and gals had an AWESOME valentines day yesterday, and don't forget your reviews, they keep my morale up!


	12. Sweet Summer Vacation Pt1

_Ok, first of all, thanks to you sis for reviewing, and second…. I OWN YU-GI-OH 5D's CARDS! Ooooooooooooooooh Yeeeah! ;) I bought them on Friday, as well as the little known Studio Ghibli film "Ocean Waves" which is really good, but it was expensive. I saw some good books on Japanese, but couldn't afford them (I went skint pretty quickly) YGO cards are expensive (£3 per pack of 9, or maybe that's just waterstones…) but I can't actually play with them, because I don't know how to! ^_^; Shoulda thought of that, but I was uber excited, cause I just need a wig, duel disk and to finish the stuff on my vest then my Alexis cosplay is finished! Anyway, enough of my useless prattle, onwards to chapter 12! Oh, and I'm fitting a song in here too, haven't had one in since…chapter 8. That's FAR to long by my standards, lol! ;D Enjoy! XD  
_

* * *

The hottest summer on record wafted on the warm ocean current to Duel Academy. The summer holidays were not far off, and once again, pupils were found to have less work, and more time was spent in the shade. Such was the heat that many students started to shed their uniforms in favour of lighter coloured garments. Only the Ra Yellows really managed in their full uniforms, with the odd exceptions due to heat sensitivity. Kara, in all her black swathed wonders, stayed incredibly comfortable sitting in the direct sunlight, skin glowing a slightly darker milk colour, up to her neck in black, many got hot just looking at her.

"How can she sit there in so much black? Can't she feel the heat?"

"She's odd, no mistake about that."

"So much black, in this heat!?"

"She's mental!"

Kara allowed the conversations to wash over her, ignoring every one, but it didn't mean she didn't feel hurt. Bastion spotted the telltale sign (a slight eye twitch that pulsed down to her throat) and offered to walk with her to somewhere cooler and quieter. She accepted with enthusiastic speed.

Madison sat on a large fallen tree-trunk on the edge of the woods. Chimchar dozed in the sun, letting the heat energise her. Squirtle was snoozing lazily in a small rivulet near by, hooking his tail around a rock. Raichu and Pikachu were currently running somewhere with Jaden, who still had his usual energy, yet another person who didn't seem to feel the heat. Syrus sat opposite Madison, on a rock, his fingers caressing the soft cushion of moss. Maddie yawned drowsily, her arms stretching together above her head. Her multicoloured strap vest lifted with her movement, exposing her midriff. Syrus couldn't help but stare at her smooth stomach, his mouth open slightly, feeling his shoulders creep further skyward. Her arms linked about her neck, and her head quirked round as she gave Syrus a grin. Syrus quickly looked away, his face flushing deep crimson. Maddies smile faltered slightly, "Sy, you ok?" he nodded, though he felt his face get even hotter.

"You look really hot Sy…" Maddie said, closer this time. Before he had time to think, Maddie was over to him and had her hand on his forehead. He jumped slightly.

"Sorry, cold hands," Maddie giggled, "but you're boiling!" She slid her cold hands about his cheeks, holding them there to try and draw out some of the heat. Syrus felt like he was beginning to short-circuit. Her help was more like a hindrance but he just couldn't make his arms and legs move.

"Did ya get too much heat?" Syrus shook his head, fretfully crushing his t-shirt sleeve under his clammy fingers.

"It's a lot cooler where I'm sitting. You should join me," Maddie suggested without waiting to see if Syrus objected. She took him by the wrist, gently tugging him with her. The trunk was quite small, just enough for an Arcanine to stretch itself out, so they sat incredibly close to one another. Syrus didn't understand why he was getting even more nervous than before. He'd sat close to Maddie like this before, but then they'd been in the presence of others. Now it was just him and Maddie. She sighed slightly, talking softly into the calm quietness of the forest.

"It's so beautiful and quiet here, huh?" Syrus just nodded in agreement, he didn't trust himself to speak. Maddie continued,

"It reminds me of the great forest beyond the wild pokemon meadows back home. Hmn, I miss home," she picked a piece of bark off the trunk and began to tear it apart in slices.

"But you'll be going back in a week," Syrus countered, wanting Maddie to smile again.

"I know," she nodded, "but…heh, this'll sound daft but…I'm kinda used to having you and Jay around. It wouldn't be the same without you." She looked at him through a mass of hair that fell across her face, only revealing her eyes and her smile. Sy felt the same electrical tingle from when he and Maddie had rolled down the sand dune all those weeks ago on the beach, and smiled back. Suddenly, Maddie jumped up, her hair flipping back over her head.

"I KNOW! You and Jay should stay with me for the holidays! Oh, it'd be fun. I'd teach ya how to catch pokemon, and I still need some help with my duelling, but it'd be AWESOME! Well, assuming your folks would be ok with you and Jay catching the train to Blossom town with me and Kara!" she garbled in a rush, grinning broadly. He ran a hand through his hair as he watched Maddie leap off the trunk, kick off her open toed mules and wade into the brook, totally unfazed by the cold water, even though she was in denim shorts. She unhooked Squirtle, who shot a jet of water playfully at her. Tickling the turtle's stomach, she giggled. Her hair hung flat and damp at her back, the sun light filtering through the canopy and onto the scattered diamond surface of the water and up into her face. The light ripped across her skin in waves, looking positively radiant.

**ONE WEEK LATER!!!!!!!! :D**

Jaden and Syrus parents _were _ok with their children staying with Maddie, they'd heard great things about her, and Syrus' mother had spoken to her via video link. So, once they were off the ferry, they made a beeline for the train station and caught the 10AM express. It was quiet, so they had a compartment to themselves. The pokemon took the window seats, intent on watching the scenery fly past them and wave at bemused farm animals grazing in the fields. Kara unfolded a duelling mat and she and Jaden were soon caught up in a lengthy battle, neither giving any leeway. Maddie and Syrus sat opposite them, fidgeting throughout their fractured conversation. Maddie pulled out her I-pod ™ and flicked through some random tunes, until she found her favourite. She mouthed the words, and offered an ear to Sy, who listened and recognised the song with a smile.

"Put it on speaker Maddie," Kara asked, not looking away from her cards as Jaden finished his turn. Maddie took out the earphones and pressed the speaker button. Kara began singing in perfect unison with the alto female vocals, giving just as much power to the song as the recorded singer.

_What's somebody like you, doing in a place like this?  
Say did you come alone, or did you bring all your friends?  
Say what's your name, what you drinkin,  
I think I know what you're thinking.  
Baby what's your sign?  
Tell me yours, I'll tell you mine.  
Say what's somebody like you, doing in a place like this?  
(1, 2, 3, come on!)_

I'll never be the same (if we ever meet again)  
Won't let you get away (say if we ever meet again)  
This freefall (ahh), got me so (ohh), kiss me all night  
Don't ever let me go.  
I'll never be the same (if we ever meet again)

Oohh, oohh if we ever meet again

Do you come here much? I swear I've seen your face before. (Beforeee, yeah)  
Hope you don't see me blush, but I can't help but want you more, more.  
Baby tell me what's your story, I ain't shy, don't you worry!  
I'm flirting with my eyes, wanna leave with you tonight.  
Do you come here much? I gotta see your face some more.  
Some more cause baby I-I-I'll never be the same (if we ever meet again)  
Won't let you get away (say if we ever meet again)  
This freefall (ahh), got me so (ohh), kiss me all night  
Don't ever let me go.  
I'll never be the same (if we ever meet again)

If we ever meet again, I'll have so much more to say. (if we ever meet again)  
If we ever meet again, I won't let you go away. (if we ever meet again)  
If we ever, ever meet again, I'll have so much more to say. (if we ever meet again)  
If we ever, ever meet again, I won't let you go away.

I'll never be the same (if we ever meet again)  
Won't let you get away (say if we ever meet again)  
This freefall (ahh), got me so (ohh), kiss me all night  
Don't ever let me go.  
I'll never be the same (if we ever meet again)

I'll never be the same (if we ever meet again)  
Won't let you get away (said if we ever meet again)  
This freefall (ahh), got me so (ohh), kiss me all night  
Don't ever let me go.  
I'll never be the same (say if we ever meet again)

The song faded just as the train pulled into a station.

"Are we here?" Syrus asked.

"No. We have to change trains first." Kara informed him, placing her deck in her black apron pocket. About half an hour later, the second train pulled into the one-manned station of Blossom town.

"Ah Madison and Kara. I wondered when I'd be seeing you two rascals again!" The ticket officer called from his booth, waving to the two girls.

"Oh, Mr. Johnson, hello! It's been a long time hasn't it. How are you and Bulbasaur doing?" Mr. Johnson placed some used ticket spools and half leaned across the counter,

"I'm afraid she's got a little worse. I think it's a cold, but I've been waiting for you to come home."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Kara interjected, "If you could bring her down for an appointment tomorrow morning, at say…10:30? Then we would be able to run some diagnostics." Mr. Johnson nodded, his glassed flashing in the lamp light, before he turned to observe Jaden and Syrus, still in their Duel Academy uniforms, "Who're your friends Maddie?" He suddenly noticed the strange uniform that Maddie wore as well.

"Oh, how rude. Sorry, this is Jaden Yuki and Syrus Truesdale, some friends of ours who're staying for the holidays," then added in a half whisper, "They're duellists." Mr. Johnson nodded, "I see. Well, I hope you enjoy your time in Blossom Town boys. It sure is pretty in summer. Well, good bye, and I'll see you tomorrow Madison." Maddie waved good-bye, Kara jumping up slightly for a quick hug before running after her sister.

Blossom Town was aptly named, flowers of every kind and colour scheme decorated the shops and houses, in tubs and boxes about the paved walkways. Behind the tallest row of houses, there was a patch of light spring green, the meadow, and behind that there was the forest Maddie had spoken of so fondly. Kara raced ahead, uncharacteristically calling to people she knew and dancing out in joy.

"Kara's like this at home," Maddie explained, "She's herself when she's in familiar surroundings."

The pokemon centre that Amelia Joy owned was one of the buildings that stood just in front of the meadow, it's light pink sandstone and light wood walls glowing in the afternoon's rosy hue. Maddie took out the key card and swiped, opening the centre fully.

"Chancey! Chance Chance, Chancey!" A great marshmallow of a pokemon carrying a Hapini ran forward to hug Maddie and Kara.

"Chancey! You must have been taking care of things, thank-you so much!" Kara muffled into the pokemon's stomach, causing her to giggle.

"This is Chancey, mothers pokemon," Maddie said as the pokemon set her sights on the two boys, hugging them tightly to her, "She's a…hugger." Kara took the boys around the house, showing them where everything was and to their room.

"Kara, we've got patients already, could you do the log book?" Maddie called, tying a white apron over her clothes and taking a badly battle hurt Shinx from a small tearful boy into one of the consultant rooms.

"You should be wearing your uniform Maddie" Kara stated, picking up the fountain pen and taking down the Shinx's details on a fresh page.

Jaden and Syrus placed fresh linen on their bed things and walked down the stairs, wondering what to do next.

"Can we help you?" Jaden asked Kara.

"Yes…" she deliberated who she should ask, "Jaden, you can help me, I've to get some things up to date here, and filling. Syrus, Maddie is in consultant room one. I suppose, oh put this apron on," she pulled a white mass of fabric from a drawer, "and I'm sure she'll give you something to do." Syrus walked towards the door, tying the apron behind his back.

"Enter!" Maddie called when he knocked. The room was similar to a vet's, but it had a nicer, calmer smell to it, and posters on pokemon care instead of dogs and cats dental hygiene and anatomy.

"Oh hey Sy, wanna help?" He nodded, edging into the room beside her.

"right, would you hold Teko's Shinx around the chest like this," she showed him what to do, "so I can get some super X potion." She was away into another door to the medicine shelves. Young Teko, the owner of the Shinx, was wiping his eyes in his sleeve.

"Would you like a hankie?" Syrus asked the small boy. He quivered as he nodded. Syrus supported Shinx's head with one hand and gave Teko a hankie. He blew his nose loudly and whimpered, "Will Shinx be ok?" Syrus stayed silent for a moment, deciding his words. He looked at the small rat-like, blue pokemon in his hands. He was badly beaten up, with heavy…burns? And was breathing shallowly. "I'm sure he'll be just fine Teko. Maddie knows what to do…I hope," he finished in a whisper.

"Ahh, here we go!" Maddie grinned as she came back out with a purple spray bottle. She sprayed some of the thick liquid onto the burns, asking Teko a few questions.

"Were did this happen?"

"The lake in the forest. I was training with Shinx, trying to get stronger, but this Magicarp attacked my Shinx, we weren't doing anything wrong, honest!" he wailed, fresh tears forming. Syrus patted the boy's shoulders, "I'm sure you didn't. It was probably an accident."

"Yes," Maddie nodded, "Some water pokemon get a little tetchy when they think another pokemon is trying to take their space. There, finished." The burns and cuts on the Shinx had vanished, and now the pokemon was given a gas before being placed into his pokeball.

"Right, take this," she gave him a small bottle of orange tonic, "and give one teaspoon at night for the rest of the week to Shinx and that should build up some more recovery. No training for about a fortnight though, I'm afraid." Teko looked so downcast, "but don't worry, 'cause it'll be worth letting Shinx rest." Teko shook his head, "I'm not sad about that. Shinx lives to train. He'll go mad if he finds out you want him to rest." Maddie ruffled his hair, "I'm sure he'll understand if he wants to get better and stronger. Show Kara the medication on your way out Tekko, and… just don't train by the lake next time, 'kay?"

Tekko grinned and ran out, calling, "Thanks Nurse Joy! You're the best!" Maddie giggled, "hmn…Nurse Joy, I've a long way to go to get there." The rest of the day went by quite quickly, and everyone got a perfect night's rest.

The sun rose bright and warm in the morning, casting its rays onto Syrus' face. He woke and , seeing that Jaden wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, decided to get dressed and wash his face. He walked down the stairs, admiring the pictures on the walls, and through the living room, where he saw several interesting photos, into the kitchen. Maddie was standing by the stove, with her back to him. She was dressed in the standard Nurse Joy uniform, the pink dress, white apron and sneakers, with her hair in two twin tails that had been tied back on themselves to create loops, and the white headband. She turned at hearing him in the doorway, and smiled.

"I thought I heard you up," she said, placing fried eggs onto some thick toast and passing him a plate. Syrus noticed that the cross on her band was light pink with a single red stripe, meaning that she was a Nurse Joy in training. ~They sat at the table and spoke about the training schools that all nurse Joy's would attend, "I should actually be there training now, but dad said I should still have all my grades, so I'm doing a year two accelerated entry, seeing as my mum is a qualified Nurse Joy, I get all the year one training from her, and I've to complete a sort of journal on different pokemon types, their habitats, feeding habits etc. Would you like to meet my dad?" she suddenly asked, placing the plates in the dishwasher.

"Uh, sure." Syrus said. They walked back into the living room.

"He's just in here," Maddie said, pulling back a small red curtain to reveal a small shrine in an alcove of the wall. There was a large gilded frame housing a picture of her father. He had a dark tanned completion, with dark espresso brown hair and emerald green eyes. He was laughing, and hugging a Riolu that sat on his lap, a eight-year-old Maddie climbing on his shoulders and holding an infant Kara, who smiled out of the photo. Maddie's mother was also there in the frame, laughing as well as she supported Maddie's climbing attempts.

"Is this an Iei?" he asked timidly.

"Yes," Maddie nodded glumly, "He went out a hero, like he'd always wanted."

"What happened? I'M SORRY, I shouldn't be so curious." Syrus placed his hands out in a blocking motion. Maddie fanned his block with her hands, directing them to the sofa,

"No, no, it's ok. You asked a long time ago, and I kinda ducked out. I guess I had my own selfish reasons for that, but…I feel I can trust you. We should start at the beginning."

"My dad started off with a career in the Fire Service. Top of his station. He met my mum on one of his daring rescues. There was a fire at the Pokemon Nurse training facility in Sinnoh, where my mum and dad used to live, and he was on call at the time. Mum wanted to save the pokemon, despite the fact that the roof was up. Dad took it upon himself to help mum get the pokemon out before she was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. She told me that dad stayed by her until she woke. They started dating, and dad decided to give up being in the risky occupation to start a family, then they had me when my dad got a new job in a duel disk and card manufacturer. He loved designing cards, that's where my first deck came from. But, as with all new things, there were teething problems. I remember, he took the deck with him, except for Elemental Dragon; I'd clung onto it. I didn't know that, when I went to school that day, that was going to be the last time I'd see my dad alive." She heaved a sigh and scrubbed at a stray tear that hadn't meant to escape.

"This is hard for you," Syrus said, "I'd rather you didn't, if it makes you sad to think about it."

Maddie half laughed, "It's ok, sometimes it's best to just talk about it, it can lessen the burden you carry…I'll continue, if you want to listen…"

Syrus nodded, "In your own time" and Maddie continued from where she stopped.

"There was…a fire. Kind of ironic really. Dad's greatest foe turned out to be his killer. I'm not sure how it started, I'd ask mum, but she's still Veeery touchy about it, but what I do know is that dad thought about the rest of his department before himself. He made sure everyone he could see got out safely. He went back in for someone. He should've remembered he wasn't a fire fighter anymore, just a plain old worker, with a family…the other person got out all right, just a bit singed, but my dad was badly burned. He died later on in the hospital, he just… faded away." Her voice rose in pitch slightly on the last two words, and she made a small fanning motion with her hand.

"The months after are a blur. It was a time of black, deep despair. I tried to stay brave for mum, she was a mess. Totally derailed herself. Uncle Vellian came to live with us for a while; he actually started looking after us when mum left for a bit. We thought she was resting, but she was actually in a mental ward for clinical depression, she told me a few years ago. She eventually got better, and we went to his funeral. Kara had taken possession of Riolu by then, I think that was her way of still connecting with him. I only had my Elemental Dragon, and I felt…too much at once. I didn't know whether to shout, scream, cry or just sit there, numb to the world. No one at school really knew what to say except, "I'm sorry" That just made me angry. I mean, What right did they have to tell me they were sorry for me? That they knew how I felt? None of them had lost their dad's. None of them had to watch his coffin be lowered into a pit. None of them had ever sat on the other side of a door, listening to their mother's weeping themselves to madness in grief. Well… Shara was that one exception. She'd lost her grand father, who was an equivalent to a father seeing as her biological one died long before she was born, and I stuck to her like glue through that time, barely going within yards of other people. Eventually, with Shara's encouragement, I began the slow road into the school societies again. They'd matured a lot since then, and understood that they couldn't talk about my dad with me, ever. I guess…that was an early wake up call. I began to fear for mortalities of other people, pokemon, heck, even plants. That's why I'm training now. If I can save lives, even just a pokemon's, someone will be happy because of it; someone will cry tears of joy instead of sadness. Someday, I'll take on this Pokemon centre, and I'll make people smile!" Maddie smiled lovingly at the photo before placing the curtain over again.

"dad's probably still sleepy, he always liked lying in on the holidays." At that moment, Kara and Jaden surfaced.

"I smell fried eggs." Kara stated, digging the frying pan out from the sink and drying it so she could make some more, with Jaden's help. Maddie straightened her apron, and smiled, signalling that the conversation was to change subject. After this new revelation, Syrus saw Maddie as he always had before, but felt that he had a deeper understanding of her as a person, as she had trusted him, and he wasn't going to ever hurt her in any way, he'd decided.

* * *

**Authoress' Blah Blah Number…11!**

Huzzah for another chapter! I've school tomorrow, BOOOOO! So this will be the last update you'll see for a little while (maybe on Saturday I'll have chapter 13 done, homework permitting). A little more of me coming out in this chapter, see if you can spot it!

Jack: Oh, so this is a competition know?

Shudup and drink your prune juice! XDDD

I managed to fit in a song, BOO YAH! ;D

Oh, if you're wondering, an iei is a portrait of a deceased person, I learned that by reading Furuba (see mum, manga IS good for your education!), the song was "If we ever meet again" by Timberland ft. Katy Perry (AWESOME SONG! Period.) And I had fun writing this chapter! :D Well, this is the last of the "write on impulse" chapters, the rest have more or less been planned (well, I mean the MAJOR PLOT POINTS that I want are planned for each chapter) so the embellishments and links just need some planning. This means, and I can tell you now, there will be…..*drum roll* 17 chapters! WHOOOOOO! Not bad for my first Yu-Gi-Oh GX, first Pokemon and indeed, first X-Over story, hah, it's a day of firsts for me today, like I was up before my DAD! OMG! Well, I was watching Dinosaur King, so I had an excuse ^_^; (DINO SLASHHHHH!) lol, I'm such a kid! Well, see ya'll round sometime!


	13. Sweet Summer Vacation Pt2

_Hey all! Sorry, this is a week late ^_^; but on the upside, you get 2 chapters! YAY! Oh, and this chapter will be long, because there's gonna be another song in it! Hope you like! :)_

The pokemon centre, during summer, was exceptionally busy, as the good weather brought out all kinds of owners, who would manage (one way or another) to get their pokemon hurt in some way. Mild bumps and burns to more serious conditions such as dehydration and exhaustion, Maddie treated them all, her young 'students' learning more each and every day that passed.

Syrus, Jaden and Shara sat in the living room, categorising and re-writing faded records when Maddie walked in wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, a horse's head collar slung over one shoulder. She was distractedly talking into a mobile, Squirtle chasing her heels.

" You're sure? And it's hurt you say? You know how bad…too far away. Right. Ok-yep I know, jus' keep the kids and any pokemon off the common. Thanks Officer Jenny. bye!"

She snapped the phone and turned to the assembly, "Officer Jenny says there's an injured Rapidash strayed onto the common, and it might start attacking people. Anyone wanna help me?"

Before anyone could answer, the mobile started to vibrate. Maddie looked at the small screen before grinning and opening the phone.

"Shara! How are ya girl? I jus-Shara? Wha…? Shara…oh dear…no, honey, no don't you go sayin' that! It's not you, it's that pig-headed excuse for a bloke-hmn? Don't go protecting him, that's the last time, you've…" she lifted the phone away from her ear, wild, loud sobs screeching at her. Gingerly, she replaced the phone to her ear,

"I know Candy, I know…look, I want to help, but there's a pokemon in need, you wanna talk to Kara? Yip, I'll talk to you the second I get back, kay? Love ya!" and she passed the phone to Kara.

"Jay? Could you stop by with Kara?" Maddie asked, grabbing an empty pokeball and stuffing it into Syrus' pocket. Jaden nodded as Maddie pulled Sy away out the back door.

The common was only a short path away, and the two teens reached the area with ease.

"Maddie, what are we looking for again?" Syrus timidly whispered. The common was unusually and deathly quiet.

"A Rapidash. Like a big unicorn, but with a mane and tail of fire. Squirtle's here for our protection."

Before Syrus could react, a great column of flame burst out of the grass, and Rapidash charged out of nowhere, circling the teens. Sy gaped in awe at the beautiful creature. Pure golden white, resplendent crimson eyes that darted the long grass, searching for opponents.

"Here," Maddie placed something in his hand, "It's a shuca berry. They love 'em." Syrus stared at her for a moment as if she'd just asked him to jump off the Chrysler building. She fanned at him, "Go on, I've got the head collar. Hold it out as if feeding a horse, and put on a dominating stance." He sighed deeply and broke cover, standing as tall as he could, palm out. The Rapidash turned its head to face him, eyes scrutinising his every breath, looking for a weakness. Spotting the shuca berry in his outstretched palm, it sniffed and snorted, trying to make out the situation it was in. Taking a few hesitant steps in his direction, and seeing no attempt to catch or run, the Rapidash tentatively moved towards the food, snatching it from his hand. Placing another in his hand, Maddie crept carefully around to the side of the majestic beast, in the firing line. Rapidash spooked and reared, its mane catching Maddies arm and burning it. She squealed and fell as Rapidash turned and ran.

"Maddie!" Sy cried coming to help her. Maddie held her arm, quickly turning pink and shining, muttered, "Flash burn. If that mare's gonna play cops and robbers, we might have to hurt to heal. SQUIRTLE cut her escape off with bubble!"

The turtle-like pokemon saluted and raced after the fleeing Rapidash, blowing liquid bubbles everywhere. The viscosity of the bubbles tacked the long grasses together, hemming the Rapidash in, and as they were now wet, the Rapidash couldn't set them alight. Angered at being cornered, she set her flaming hooves to the pokemon, shrieking in fury.

"Water Pistol. GO!" Maddie commanded. The poor Rapidash fell to the floor as Squirtle doused her flames, staring with sad, pleading eyes at Sy, who couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"I'm sorry honey, but we need to get you better, and it's the only way." He whispered, stroking one of her ears. He tapped her forehead with the pokeball, the way Maddie had shown him, and watched the silver dial pulsate and ping to proclaim his capture.

"Well done mate!" Maddie half hugged him, Squirtle soaking her arm in water. "You've caught your first pokemon, awesome job." Sy felt another blush coming on, "I couldn't have if you hadn't fought her first." Maddie shrugged, "meh well, we'll fix her up, then you can learn about pokemon training. Fun stuff!"

--------

**Meanwhile, Back at the pokemon Centre…**

"Uh huh…yes, oh no, I see. Well, how about…no? You are sure you would rather…ok, I will tell Maddie, but I still think, yes Candy…Haha, you are so positive, well give our love to your brother. Bye Shara."

Kara cut the line and returned to her work. Jaden continued to pen in a Magicarp's physiotherapy status as he asked, "What's happening then?" Kara shrugged, filing away more papers.

"Candy says she's not going to stop by and continue on to her skating practice. I just hope she doesn't try to hurt herself with the skates. She so upset because of that vile 'boyfriend' that just text-dumped her." Riolu barked angrily and snarled. It was obvious that Kara cared for her sister's best friend.

"I'm guessing Candy's Shara?" he asked, a little unsure.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to explain. Shara's surname is 'Canady' but when I was little, I used to say Candy, and it kind of stuck…" she sweat dropped and locked the filing cabinet.

"Ah, right!" Jaden nodded, trying to look intelligent.

"Hello? Anyone here?" a new voice echoed in the front passage.

"Just coming!" Kara called as she and Jaden made for the front desk.

--------

Shara puffed moodily as she pushed out of a Lutz spin and glided round the rink in an arabesque. She'd been all ready for her date with 'Mark' (In her favourite black skirt with the wide blue sash, blue halter neck top and matching legwarmers with her fuzzy brown Caribbean afro style hair in a black silk scarf) but he'd texted her to say she was dumped. Her green eyes welled up, mascara running as she thought of the fifteenth boy to dump her within a year. Maddie and Kara were ever so supportive, but she couldn't help wondering if something was wrong with her. She shivered, not being appropriately dressed for skating, and decided to call it a night, though it was late afternoon. Changing from her skates to black flats, she lilted out of the rinks' sliding doors and out into the town air, smelling the fresh flowers as she went by. Before long, she felt someone was following her.

"Well, Well. If it isn't the little sweet shop." She gasped, a bewildered smile plastered across her face as she turned to face a tall, pale teen with dark hair and eyes. He grinned lopsidedly at her as she ran towards him.

"THUNDER!" she cried, flinging herself upon him, hugging him tightly.

"I knew you'd come back! Oh, I've missed you so…I," and she burst into tears, the whole day's trials finally catching up. Chazz sighed as he hugged her tightly, stroking her hair, "Well, this wasn't what I was expecting." He mused cynically.

"Oh no, I'm sorry," Shara slapped herself before explaining what had happened that day. "That sorry, selfish, no good b-" He was cut off by Shara's hand across his mouth, "Don't Thunder!" at his nickname that she'd given him all those years ago; he bit back the insult and sighed. He just couldn't resist how innocently kind Shara's disposition was, she just couldn't think ill of anybody, no matter how they'd hurt her. He shook his head slightly as he took her hand and walked down the street with her, handing over a pack of hankies.

When they reached Shara's house, he turned to her, seriousness etched in his dark eyes. "You know Shara…It took a lot of trouble to get here, with my brothers beginning to side with father, but mother and I managed to 'persuade' them to give you a chance…well, mother refused to do anything until father agreed, so you're coming to dinner with us tomorrow night, no excuses, lest you want my father to take me away." Shara clutched at his black jacket, her hand trembling, "but you know I would die if I never saw you again…I…I," He placed a finger on her lips to silence her. "I know. I know. Until tomorrow then, desert orchid." He let their hands drift apart and walked off, leaving Shara standing in the middle of her garden path, Mark's horrid text completely forgotten.

-------

Maddie, now with one bandaged arm, had dealt with Rapidash and had left her to sleep in one of the rooms, Syrus staying with the pokemon out of worry. Kara had left three new pokemon trainers with Jaden, who was talking animatedly with one black haired guy with a Pikachu about duelling.

"Sorry 'bout the wait. How can I help?" Maddie announced to the small group.

"Hi. I'm Ash from Palo Town," the one Jaden had been talking to said, removing his cap respectfully.

"I'm Dawn. Pleased to meet you!" The only girl said, her Piblup chirping at her feet, tossing her raven hair behind her and straightening her skirt.

"And I'm Brock oh fair maiden!" the tallest said, bending on one knee to Maddie, his Croagunk about to jab him. Syrus appeared at that moment, and on seeing Brock, felt something stir inside him. What was that feeling? Jealousy. However, Brock straightened up. "You're not Nurse Joy. Where's the fair Nurse Joy?" he looked about. Maddie giggled,

"Guilty as charged. My _mother_ is currently away, I'm the nurse until she returns."

It turned out that Ash, Dawn and Brock, aspiring Pokemon trainer, co-ordinator and breeder respectively, were just passing through on their way to Sinnoh, and had stopped to check their pokemon's health.

"Such caring owners you are." Kara smiled as she broke out the tea bags.

After Maddie has observed their pokemon to be in perfect health, albeit some antibiotics for Pachiritsu's ear infection, and Jaden and Syrus explaining and demonstrating duelling to the bemused trio, they were on their way with refreshed minds and new acquaintances.

Maddie was fetching wood for the stove with Syrus when Shara called again, this time in better spirits, "Whoa, really? He came back? How romantic. You should defo try here, I mean, he was 'the one' you told me 'bout right?…. wha? ha ha! Yes, very funny…No! He wouldn't…" she glanced at Syrus half heartedly.

"C'mon Maddie. What's there to loose?" Shara chirped.

"Urm…You want the short or long list?"

"I'm serious Maddie. You look after me and make sure someone takes care of me, so I want someone to take care of you."

"Ach…Could we talk about this later?"

"OH!" Shara squealed knowingly, "Is he with you right now? He is isn't he?"

"Yes." Maddie stated.

"Well, go on and tell him."

"there's nothing to tell Candy! Besides, even if I did, there's all that…that…"

"Confidence? Image? Time-keeping? Whaaaaat? Don't leave me hanging here!"

"None of them Candy…he's," she whispered, even though Sy had gone ahead to the kitchen, "shy."

"Well…what's the problem?"

"Sy's delicate. I can't just march up to him and go 'Hey, Sy! By the way, I really, really, _really_ wanna go out with you, and think you're the best thing since sliced bread, so what do ya think?' NO! He'd freak, and we're good friends, I don't wanna risk that."

There was silence on the line.

"Ooooooooooh. This is just like Nathan. You were _obsessed_ with him. And best mates. Then he buggered off to Spain and broke you with out realising."

"This is nothing like Nathan. If it was between Sy and him, I'd pick Sy."

"But I always thought Nathan was the best thing since sliced bread to you."

"Sy's better than that. He's sweet, and kind and…and…"

"Cute?"

"_Beautiful._ He's got that smile, and these eyes, they're so understanding and…I just know I'd have to beat you off him with a stick if you saw him!"

Both girls laughed, Shara falling off her bed with a thump.

"Ha ha ha! I solemnly swear that I, Shara Joy Canady, Also known as the terror of the candy shop, that I shall never steal or want anyone my bezza mate _EVAR_, Madison Joy, known as the best pokemon healer since time began, fancies the sock off of!" Shara put on a deep, comical voice, and laughter continued.

-------

**The Next Day…**

-------

It was Saturday, the one-day Maddie had free. The local beach was having one of its bonfire nights on the balmy night air, and the whole town buzzed in excitement. Maddie sighed as she watched Syrus bond with Rapidash in the outside enclosure. Wandering forwards, then back behind the wall, she whined to herself, "Ok…ok. Maddie, you can do this. Yes I-No I can't. NO!" she slapped herself, "You _can_ do this. Remember what Shara said. Be confident, but not cocky. Be positive, but not desperate. Be _you_." She squared her shoulders and walked in, closing the chain link fence.

"Hey Sy!"

"Oh, hey Maddie! I think Rapidash's getting used to the idea of enclosures," he smiled sweetly, causing Maddie to blush harder than ever before as she watched Rapidash sharpen her horn on the fence. She felt like a cornered Chimchar.

"Urm…ahem..Eh heh," she laughed, trying to think of a good beginning.

"You ok Maddie?" Sy asked, turning to face her.

"_Oh shizzle sticks!_" Maddie thought, "Yeah, I'm…I was wondering if you'd…like to walk me-walk with me that is, in the forest, you know, um…as people like you and me do when they feel they need some…fresh…air…" She trailed off, mortified by her ramblings.

"Shall I get Jay and Kara? Maybe they'd like-"

"NO!" Maddie cut across, "No…that is, Kara is helping with the bonfires down on the beach, and Jaden will probably wanna be in the thick of it…" Her cheeks were brick red now, "I-I jus-just thought you and…me, if you want to…"

"_Great going diphead!_" she shouted inwardly, "_Not only have you embarrassed yourself in front of your friend, heated up enough to fry a good few psyduck eggs, but you've also brought TO YOUR FRIEND'S attention, oh I'm sorry, EX friend's attention, that you like him. Prepare to crash and burn girl."_

But to her surprise, Syrus just smiled, "Sure. It'd be a good chance to let Rapidash straighten her legs more."

Maddie realised he hadn't a clue. She nodded rapidly, liking his explanation, "Oh yeah, sure, sure. I thought that exactly…thank goodness," she muttered after.

-------

**Later on in the evening, on the beach…**

-------

Syrus and Maddie had had an amazing time on their 'date', (seeing as Syrus had no clue, Maddie didn't think it would count) laughing and joking, basically doing what teenagers do. They met up with Kara and Jaden, and a few other students from the High School and joined in all the games, singing and laughter that came with a good blaze on the beach. Eventually, the firewood began to lessen, and the group split off to look.

"Maddie and Sy will guard camp!" A girl named Rebecca cheered as she scampered off with a few others.

"_Guard from what exactly?"_ Maddie wondered as she and Syrus were left alone. Several moments passed by, both teens getting a little discomfited.

"So…" Maddie finally broke the silence.

"So…" Sy repeated, staring out to the crashing waves…

"YouknowSy, , ani'mreallygaldimetyou, and-eep!" she was cut off by two fingers on her lips.

"I'm sorry, but could you take a deep breath and start again?" he gave her an eye-locking gaze, totally innocent, yet with a trace of…something Maddie couldn't quite place. Taking two deep, shuddery breaths, she started again, blushing every time she faltered and stuttered.

"I…I think you're really awesome…a-and…I'm..urm…really glad I met you…an..and…" she just trailed off, not sure if it was best to finish the sentence. Syrus smiled tenderly and pulled her into a hug. This one definitely felt different to any other time they'd hugged. It felt so much warmer, softer, hinting at something new between them.

"I knew what you were trying to say this morning, it can be hard to say what you're feeling, hmn?" Maddie looked up, shocked,

"You knew? Why did you let me get all flustered…and embarrassed?"

Syrus whisked at a stray lock of pink hair as he whispered gently, just heard above the breeze, "Because that was you dealing with your emotions, besides," he flushed crimson, "you're truly cute when you blush."

"Hmn. You looked in the mirror lately Sy?" she smiled affectionately back as he held her close again. They stayed in one position for a while, allowing their actions to speak for themselves in the night's pleasant scented breeze, only pulling away when the other's returned with more driftwood than you could shake a ten foot hairy stick at, yet they still kept their closeness, not unnoticed by the more observant of the group.

-------

**Earlier that Afternoon…(going back a bit in time, sorry there)**

-------

Shara stood in front of her full-length bedroom mirror, trying her tenth clothing combination. She turned to observe her backside, worrying about how she would look. Her brother, Matthew, had offered his advice before hand.

"How about it?" he'd asked when he'd shoved her into a bodycon mini skirt, kitten heel pumps and a Hawaiian print blouse.

"You want them to think I'm a loony?" She'd wailed in mock despair, balling her fingers to fists.

"But you're a loony already!" He teased, and Shara threw a pillow at him, mockingly crying, "Get out or I'm telling your boyfriend you're being mean!" Matthew was five years her senior, with identical copper skin and untameable fuzzy hair. He was also engaged to his boyfriend of six years, and Shara was very defendant of him when homophobic people tried to set upon him.

Matthew's fiancée, Ghreth, poked his head around the door, "Cinderella, your carriage…wow! You look gorgeous dearest sister to be!" As a costume maker for Shara's figure skating, Matthew's Latin dancing and indeed many clients in need of fashion advice, he knew quite a lot about fabrics.

"Gee, thanks Ghreth!" she hugged him as her brother wolf whistled her,

"If we weren't related, and I wasn't gay, I'd ask you out on the spot!"

"Enough of your flattery," she chided good humouredly, tying her black headscarf into her hair, "I don't want to be late, so could we get going please?"

Within minutes, Shara stood at the front of the Princeton Manor house, quivering in slight apprehension. Her 'boys' gave her the thumbs up as they drove off, leaving her to walk up the stairs and pull the cord alone. A young maid answered the door, staring her up and down, "Ah, miss. Shara? The masters and Mistress' were expecting you. They're down in the courtyard. Just this way." She was led through to a Mediterranean styled courtyard, where four men and two women sat in wooden slatted chairs, waiting patiently.

"Miss Shara Canady." The maid announced, scampering quickly away. All heads turned to Shara, watching her decent to their level. Her black dance heels (worn when helping Matthew with his routines) clacked slightly on the concrete, her left hand sliding down the iron banister. Her right hand, with a blue and black bangle, held part of her deep blue, halter neck dress with keyhole detail, the black edging swirling about her calves. She smiled pleasantly, curtsying in a fit of nervous butterflies. The youngest girl, pale white with albino blond hair, rushed forward to Shara, and took her hand.

"Hi Shara! Nii-Kun told me all about you. I'm Rebekah. You can sit next to me, and I'll protect you from daddy!" Shara smiled, "Thank-you. I'd like that very much Rebekah."

Chazz sat opposite Shara, keeping a close eye on her and his father in sweeping eyes movements, obviously tense. Mrs. Princeton, her golden tresses flowing about her shoulders, smiled kindly to put Shara at ease. She remembered Shara when she was a small child, playing with her youngest son. Mr. Princeton seemed to be nursing sour disapproval as he sat at the table's head, being served first. Shara picked up her knife and fork, and with a slight cough from Chazz, swapped them round. She'd never quite got the hang of 'table etiquette'. Small talk reigned supreme, with Chazz's older brothers talking mostly about their 'high up jobs', and poor Shara being grilled about everything.

"Your dress is so beautiful. Did you make it?" Rebekah enquired.

"Oh no, but thank-you. My brother's fiancée made it for me a few years back."

Slade's interest sparked, "Oh, and who pray is the 'lucky lady'?"

Shara placed down her fork and blushed, "Ghreth."

"Foreign girl is she?" Jagger added.

"No, he's from the nearby town."

"He…" growled. Rebekah gasped, looking from father to mother. Mrs. Princeton simply smiled, trying to take attention from her husbands' most ostentatious behaviour and offered her genuine congratulations. At this new revelation, Mr. Princeton got up and walked off, grumbling about being in his study. Shara stared wide-eyed in shock,

"Did I offend your husband Mrs. Princeton ma'am?"

"No, no dear Shara, he's just in…a strange mood today, it's not your fault." The elder brothers sniggered slightly, but were quickly silenced by one glare from their mother.

"Uh-perhaps you might like to take a turn in the gardens Shara. Chazz, accompany your guest please." Mrs. Princeton decided to diffuse the situation. Rebekah made to follow suit, but was grabbed by her mother.

"Muuuum!" she whined.

"Honey, let the young ones have some alone time." She stared after them as they turned out of sight.

-------

Shara and Chazz walked around the gardens, admiring the flowers and talking about anything except the night's current events. At last they stopped at the bench where they'd met as small children. Sitting down, they remained silent.

"Chazz…" no answer, so Shara continued, "I think I should go."

"Why?"

"Because it obvious your father dislikes me, no, _more_ than dislikes me, loathes me, you saw that look her gave me as he left. I…don't want him to be angered further."

"To hell with his temper, if he doesn't like who I care about, then he'll just have to live with it." Chazz held Shara tightly, but she disengaged him.

"Then you'll suffer all the more. I couldn't bear it if it was because of me." She took off her heels and walked to the wall. "Boost me up will you?" Chazz came and grasped one strong ankle, using his strength to help Shara scale the garden wall and over.

"Bye…" she whispered before hitching up her dress, and running, a shoe and fist-full of skirt in each hand. Chazz sighed as he watched her run, faster than a gazelle. But this time he knew where she was going, and was going to join her there, but first he would have to get changed. He passed his father's study on his way to his bedroom, and heard his parents having a shouting match, bits of conversation all garbled together.

"…DON'T YOU SEE THEY LOVE ONE ANOTHER?"

" HOW COULD I NOT, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN SHE'S NOT ACTING…"

"OH PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!"

"WATCH YOUR TONGUE WOMAN!"

"THAT BOY NEEDS-"

"_THAT BOY_ IS OUR SON!"

"I KNOW THAT!"

"OOOOH! YOU ARE SO STUBBORN!"

"DON'T GET ME STARTED ON STUBBORN!"

"OH, FOR GOD'S _SAKE_ OSCAR!"

"I WARNED YOU ALICE!"

Chazz hurried on to his room, he couldn't bear listening to his family arguing. Curled up on his bed, sobbing frightfully, was Rebekah. She lifted her tear-stained face to his, wailing pitifully,

"Make them stop Nii-Kun! Make them stop shouting, I'm frightened!" Chazz hugged his sister, whom he was closer to than either of his elder brothers, stroking her hair. "I can't. Only a fool rubs more salt into a raging bull's wounds."

"But what if he gets more mad and hits mama?"

"He won't hit mama Bekka. You know they love each other, even when they're fighting." She watched him as he swapped his shirt for a simple long-sleeved top, body warmer, scarf and gloves.

"Are you going out again?" she asked.

"Yes. Can you cover me, little ninja?" he replied, opening the window.

"Of course-Nii-kun!" she called, his head bobbing back into view.

"yes?"

"Can you do something for me?"

"Make it quick."

"Tell Shara that I like her, and I want to be her friend. Will you tell her that Nii-Kun?"

"Course I will Bekka." He said, pecking her cheek and rushing out of sight and over the garden wall to the ice rink.

-------

Shara was practicing her back spirals (having changed into her warm practice gear) when Chazz skated onto the ice, pulling her into a pendulum and reverse fan kick. After the initial shock, Shara laughed as she flew through the air and landed in front of him.

"Are you entering that contest up there?" he suddenly asked.

"Yes, it's next Sunday. Wanna watch?"

"Why watch, when you can perform!" he grinned, stretching his arms in a warm up.

"But you don't know the routine! And I've already got a partner, you knew that!"

Chazz laughed as he grabbed her hands and they revolved in a circle,

"hah, you told me it was the same routine we did back when we were little, and your 'partner' has one leg in a stookie, don't fib to me Shara, because you're a terrible liar and I saw him yesterday. So, what d'you have to say to that, eh?"

Shara blew air, "fine. You win. But you don't know the routine, you die!" she giggled, skating away to the music box.

"Right, it's sped up and I've changed a few things, so I'd watch if I was you." She put on a classical song, obviously not the initial song (as she hadn't chosen it yet) and skated around .

"the toe steps into the spirals in opposition would work as the recurring theme, and we keep the sets like the backward slalom and the fan kicks and stuff. I was thinking about a big lift somewhere, but I dunno if you could handle it." She smile teasingly at him. Chazz returned the grin, smirking slightly, "I could handle _anything_ you throw at me. Bring. It. On!"

"Well, we'll see won't we… It's called the throw triple jump. You just put me into a normal one-hand lift, but throw me up and I spin horizontally before you assist my landing. Shall we try it?"

-------

**One Week Later**

-------

Maddie tuned the T.V. set into the local channel.

"Guys! Shara's on next! Come see!"

-------

Meanwhile, backstage…

-------

Shara listened to the song Chazz had picked for the 12th time in an hour. She was really nervous, as she always was before a big competition, but a little more so than usual.

"Hey." Chazz murmured quietly, rubbing her arms gently in a comforting way.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," he said, remembering the promise to his sister, "that Rebekah wants you and her to become good friends, and that she likes you."

"Well, at least someone does," she smiled ruefully.

"Heeey. I like you too you know," Chazz half frowned, catching her cheek. Shara blushed intensely, glad it was hidden by her costume mask..

"Oh, we're on!" Shara suddenly cried, pulling Chazz away before he could say something else.

Shara skated on in a navy halter neck dress that had a back and knife pleated skirt, armlet gloves and tights made to look like over knee boots, her hair tied into a frizzy bun and her upper face covered in a mask. Chazz wore a shirt (in an identical colour), black pants and a matching mask. They skated to the middle of the rink, presented themselves to each side, and then got into position, back to back.

"I've got a surprise for you," Chazz whispered.

"When?" Shara asked.

"At the end of the routine."

"Wah?" but the opening bars of the tune played, and they began shadow step combinations, rotating slowly on the ice.

**A place to crash, I got you  
No need to ask, I got you  
Just get on the phone, I got you  
Come and pick you up if I have to**

**What's weird about it is we're right at the end  
and mad about it, just figured it out in my head  
I'm proud to say, I got you**

They moved intoa backward slalom, changing position so Shara was in front, sweeping past the judges in an arabesque, which changed to a leg sweep and finished the verse with a kick drape, inviting a small smatter of applause.

Go ahead and say goodbye, I'll be alright  
Go ahead and make me cry, I'll be alright  
And when you need a place to run to  
For better, for worse, I got you, I got you

The chorus was perfect for a syncopated step combi, followed by quick alternating split jumps and a few reverse fan kicks that took the pair from one side to the other with ease.

**Ain't falling apart or bitter, let's be bigger than that  
And remember the cooling outdoor when you're all alone  
We'll go on surviving, no drama, no need for a show  
Just wanna say, I got you**

They moved into mirrored arabesques, spinning with precision. Changing their direction once and the edge of the blade, they gained momentum to return to the chorus set.

Go ahead and say goodbye, I'll be alright  
Go ahead and make me cry, I'll be alright  
And when you need a place to run to  
For better, for worse, I got you

Go ahead and say goodbye  
(Go ahead)  
I'll be alright  
(Say goodbye)

Go ahead and make me cry  
I'll be alright  
And when you need a place to run to  
For better, for worse, I got you

'Cause this is love and life  
And nothing we can both control  
And if it don't feel right  
You're not losing me by letting me know

To gain some ground, Shara used a quadruple Lutz Jump to the opposite end of the rink, Chazz keeping the interest by spiralling creatively. Shara turned and took a furious run up, being caught by Chazz and lifted into the air, her arms resting on his shoulders, him holding her thighs to maintain a good shape. There was a brief pause in the music, where they preformed their 'killer move'-the throw triple jump. With an assisted landing, they skated off into a new chorus set, consisting of pivot kicks, hand-in-hand lunges and a death spiral, the crowd's manic screaming ringing around the rink.

**  
Go ahead and say goodbye  
(Say goodbye)  
I'll be alright**

Go ahead and make me cry  
I'll be alright  
And when you need a place to run to  
For better, for worse, I got you

Go ahead and say goodbye  
(Go ahead)  
I'll be alright  
(Say goodbye)

Go ahead and make me cry, I'll be alright  
And when you need a place to run to  
For better, for worse, I got you

One final twist lift was used as the music slowed again, both circling the other once again, Chazz kneeling down, supporting Shara as the final lyrics were sung.

**  
A place to crash, I got you  
No need to ask, I got you  
**

It was now or never. Chazz leaned in close to Shara, and kissed her gently. Shara's eyes widened in shock. So this was the surprise ending. Never the less, it would be lying to say Shara didn't like it. Chazz lifted her up and broke away so they could bow, Shara with a stupefied expression on her face.

"_And I think we can safely say they have a very strong bond, Shara Canady and Jen Krockle there, what a beautiful dance…and yes, the judges liked it…27.6 that's a good score, puts them in for the silver currently…_"

Shara wasn't listening to the commentator; she was too busy grinning at Chazz, totally caught off guard as she hugged him,

"Next time you add a 'surprise' ending, let me know in advance?" He chuckled as he pulled her in for another kiss, "Sure I will."

**Authoress' Blah Blah Number 12**

If you have reached this blah, I commend your dedication to reading! Lol, this was Soooooooo much longer than I actually thought it would be, and that's WITHOUT the song lyrics. I picked "I've Got You" because I love Leona Lewis' songs, they're from the heart, and this one has meaning for the Chazz/Shara couple (Which I have decided to call…Rometteshipping. That's Romeo and Juliet shipping…sucks I know, but you come up with better!) See if you can find the meaning! :D Also, I know that Chazz doesn't have a sister, I just wanted the ratio of girls: boys to be more even, and I wanted the Princeton's to have a girl, so bring it on haters! My story, my rules, even if it means pulling apart the characters. *Evil laugh followed by a cough* oh, and the skating comp didn't know Shara had a change of partner, so that's why no-one knows it's Chazz (apart from Shara). I finally got onto some fluff! Whooo! Was it ok? Not too soppy, not too pervy, just right? Tell me guys and gals. Anything else? Yeah, I noticed, while writing this, that Ash from Pokemon and Jaden from YGO GX are quite similar, observe:

Ash: Wants to be best in pokemon (pokemon Master)

Is very positive and believes that a bond with pokemon is vital for winning.

When he looses, he keeps his chin up and works harder to win next time.

Can be a bit… dense at times ^_^;

Jaden: Wants to become next king of games.

Is very positive

Believes that the cards are his soul, and a bond with them is vital for success.

When he looses, he's still positive, and promises himself to win next time.

Can be a bit… dense at times.

POKEMON CANNON CHARACTERS!!!!!! XDDDDD They weren't there long, but if I ever do another pokemon story/ X-over, they'll get more lines…. which reminds me, I owe someone more lines…MAX! I owe you at least half a page's worth. (Sorry, it's Tuesday when I wrote this, name blank day, lol!)

Ghreth is an ancient Celtic/Welsh name, meaning Gareth, but pronounced "Guh-reth" I like that name, like Gethan (Welsh for Gavin.)


	14. Ultimatum

_Well, you probably didn't have time to review, what with three chapters commin' at ya, but if you took time to review chapter 13 before moving on, I LOVE YOUUUUU! ;D Ok, onwards to chapter 14!!!!!!!!_

Summer had to end sometime, though it was very, very annoying having to return to schoolwork, but it did have its positives…like seeing your friends again. Once more, it was P.E. and as it was still pretty warm, Miss. Fontaine thought it would be a good idea to get fresh air with a good game of tennis.

In the boys' changing room, Syrus was telling Jaden about a date he'd had with Maddie one weekend on the island while Jaden tied his trainers. He would only talk to Jaden because he was still pretty nervous about the fact he was going out with someone he really, really liked, and Jaden was always supportive of his friend.

"…I don't know why, I guess I just got a little…well, nervous…" he said, resting his head on his bent knee as he remembered what had happened…

-------

**FLASHBACK BEGINS…**

-------

_…Maddie and Sy held hands as they traipsed through the vast forest that crouched upon most of the island, Rapidash loping about, exploring her new surroundings with glee. When they came to one of the many openings onto campus, Rapidash was placed back into her pokeball, so as not to scare the more sensitive students. There was certainly many about, and it made Sy anxious at the thought of how they would react. He stopped, arm outstretched as Maddie continued a few steps before turning to him, hair whisking round. She blinked a few times at him as he let his grasp go, their hands falling to meet their sides. He gave her a 'rabbit at the headlights' expression, which she immediately understood, closing her eyes and smiling as she continued on the path, Sy matching her step. She was a little disappointed at the loss of contact, but as long as they were both comfortable in their actions and surroundings, she would not rush him. "Let the wild pokemon come to you" her mother had told her, and she couldn't help thinking of Sy as a nervous, timid, wild pokemon, wanting but not sure of accepting affection. To try sustain something, she brushed her knuckles against Sy's to try and tell him, and he got the message, so they took turns swinging their arms, knuckles always brushing gently…_

-------

**FLASHBACK ENDS…**

-------

"I'm sure Maddie knows you don't wanna run headlong into anything Sy, she's probably just as nervous as you are." Suddenly, out of no-where, there was a huge group of boys, all at different stages of getting changed, all garbling at the same time.

"Whoot! Go _Sy_ruuuuus!"

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend? Kept that quiet, sly fox!"

"I knew there was a man in there somewhere!"

"You got a girlfriend before me? That's depressing."

"Dude, _you _run around with boxers on your head. And you wonder why you can't get a girl!"

"Which base did ya get to? First? Third…or _maybe_ the home run?"

"Pah! He wouldn't get to home run, my bets on him still batting. £10 says he is!"

"Alright, knock it off guys! You've had your fun," Jaden fairly bellowed over the ruckus, "Disperse citizens!" and with that, the crowd was gone so quickly, it might have just been a figment of Sy's imagination.

"Thanks bro," he sighed, rubbing his forehead, "Disperse?"

"Yeah, Emily taught me that one. She's doing this creative writing class, and she's good with words. You're welcome though!" he gave his friend a grin as he placed some things absentmindedly in Sy's locker.

"Those guys were assuming something terrible, it's very fast for them to think we're at that stage," Sy started, taking Jaden's' things out of his locker and putting them in Jaden's as a guy with boxers on his head ran passed and crashed into the wall, "I mean, we've only gone out 1.5 times," the time in Blossom town was counted by both as half a date, "and that's too early to think like that. We haven't even kissed or anything like that…" he rubbed his upper arm nervously.

"There's always time Sy," Jaden patted his friend's shoulder as they left for tennis.

William hadn't heard anything after the loud 'assembly' and had stormed out, swinging his racket dangerously hard. He wanted answers, and knew _exactly_ how to get them.

-------

**In the tennis courts…**

-------

"You realise that I'm bad enough with ball sports, so combining that with a stick _could_ put you into the nurse's office for a week, right?" Maddie called over the net.

"You can't be _THAT_ bad Maddie!" Jaden called back as he served.

"Ok, I-puff-might've been mistaken…" he panted. Maddie pelted the ball with exceeding force, making him and Syrus run everywhere for the ball, while trying not to get hit.

"I-NGH!-told you!" Maddie called as she returned the ball. Kara stood at the side of the court, keeping score. She was supposed to be playing on Maddie's team, but thought Maddie was fine without her (what she didn't want to say was "I don't want another racket in the face" referring to the last time she'd played doubles with her sister).

Without warning, a tennis ball struck Maddie hard in the face. It cleft a red mark on her cheek, the impact surprising her enough to cause her to fall over. She hit the astro turf with a muffled bump and just lay there, blinking owlishly.

"Maddie!" Jaden, Kara and Syrus called, Sy running over the net to help Maddie.

"Oh, I _am_ sorry, allow me!" William butt bumped Sy out the road and 'gallantly' help Maddie, now totally dazed, to her feet. He captured Maddies jaw with one hand, pretending to examine the injury he'd caused, calling loudly, "Miss Fontaine? MISS FONTAINE! I'm taking Maddie to get an ice pack!" With a nod from the teacher, he gently dragged Maddie off without anyone getting a chance to do anything.

In the medic room, William kept a friendly smile on, laughing jokingly, "I'm honestly really sorry, it's just that expression on your face was so amusing…_so cute_" he thought at the end, "My aim is just _terrible._ I was aiming at my partner, but that just shows how bad tennis is for me," he grabbed an ice pak and placed it into the flash freeze, setting the timer. With his back turned to her, he said, almost tenderly,

"So…you and Syrus, huh?"

"Yeah…" Maddie smiled, feeling extremely uncomfortable in the current situation.

He suddenly, quicker than a squirrel, turned 180 degrees and pinned Maddie to the wall, his hand clawed over her fast bruising cheek, making sure their 'little talk' would not leave any evidence.

"What are you doing?" Maddie squeaked, ready to start screaming.

"Hush now, Slifer Bloom. You don't want me to hurt you more. Do you?" He squeezed her cheek, relishing in her gasp of pain.

"You!" the poem's writer.

"Yes me. You didn't think it was nice? HUH? Did ya! Did ya?" with every new sentence, he squeezed harder.

"All I'm going to say now is that you'd better re-think your love life. I'm going to give you one chance to switch to me, but if you won't come willingly, then I'll use force…and I don't think you'll like me when I'm forceful, huh?" he let her go, and she fell against the wall, gasping in shock, and shaking terribly. William calmly turned to get the ice pak and pressed it, none too gently, to her cheek.

"Now, tell anyone, and I'll break that pretty jaw, there's a good little Slifer Bloom!" he smiled sickeningly as he steered her back to the tennis courts, Maddie too stunned to say or do anything.

Meanwhile, Syrus and Jaden played singles, Kara still keeping score. Jaden dodged another killer from Syrus.

"What is it? 'Hit Jaden with a tennis ball day'? Stop-Hitting-it-so-HARD!" he impacted each word with the whack of the ball.

"Sorry Jay, its just…urg." Sy said, _"How dare he call her Maddie like they're 'bosom buddies'"_ he thought as he hit the ball again.

The second Maddie was released, she ran for the small group.

"you ok Maddie?" Syrus immediately asked, hissing through teeth at the bad bruising Maddie had got. She didn't hear. She was too bust watching William, who gave her an evil smirk. Turning to Syrus, she hugged him slightly and laughed, a hint of fear in her voice,

"huh? Oh! Oh, yeah! Fine! Fine!" and smiled through the swelling.

-------

**Likkle Time Jump (about…a week.)**

-------

That was only the beginning of the threatening messages Maddie was to receive. Every morning, under her door, there was a note. It was made of cut out letters, but she knew it was from William. Usually, she would get Chimchar to flame them, and continue as normal, giving any excuse to lock herself up in her room, especially on the week ends. Today though, enough was enough. The latest message was so disgustingly rude and dirty, and this time written in William's own hand, she felt she had to do something now.

So, marching up to him one break, she confronted him.

"William, I've had enough of this!" she yelled, thrusting the note under his nose. Several students looked up and some started to crowd round.

"Enough of what Maddie?" he said, feigning surprise, a hint of murderous rage in his eyes.

"You know very well what! I demand we settle this once and for all."

He sat up on the stone bench he'd been sunbathing on, and looked a little quizzical.

"Normally I would challenge you to a pokemon contest, but as you have no pokemon, we'll have to settle this differently."

"How?"

"With a duel." Maddie announced.

"A duel?" He scoffed, "Dear Maddie-"

"That's Madison to you, you obstinate, Obelisk Prat!" several laughs and congrats on the insult caused William to purple with rage.

"Fine. _Madison_. What hope have you, Slifer Slacker, against an Obelisk like me?"

"I have a heart. And I have my dignity and self-belif. If I win, you will stay well away from me, and stop wasting paper on notes that I just burn, and if you win…" she faltered, not wanting to say what she had thought of.

"If…_when_ I win?" he prompted. By now, Syrus and Jaden had finally found Maddie, and were confused. Sy had been about to call to Maddie as he stood behind her; he heard something that froze him to the spot in fear.

"_IF_ you win, I'll give up Syrus and go out with you as long as I live!"

**Authoress' Ultra Special Blah Blah Number…unlucky for some, 13!**

OH MY GOD! OH MY BLOOMIN' GOD! Lawls, I actually did what I planned. Just when it seems to run smoothly for my couple, everything hangs in the balance. So, what'dya think? He he, this is gonna be THE shortest blah evarrrrr! XDDDDD Reviews please! :D


	15. DUEL!

_Ok, as a warning, this chapter is a duel chapter, and it's gonna suck, but we're here for the win, so who cares…Right? So, revel and enjoy its stupidness, lol! XDDDD_

The obelisk arena was quickly filled; the excitement of a challenging duel was thick in the air. On one side, William stood, his polished duel disk glinting in the fluorescent lighting, on the other, Madison, poised for the duel of her life.

"Let's Duel!" they chorused.

"Lady's first if you don't mind," Maddie tried to keep the tone polite, "Draw! I summon **Krypton Koala **in attack mode! (ATK: 1800), and activate the spell **Ruby in the Smoke** from my hand in order to summon **Titanium Tortoise** in attack mode! (ATK: 1500) I shall now place a face down, and end my turn." She scowled, as her metallic animals took to the field, ready for the fight.

"My turn then. I summon **Hay-Or **(ATK: 1500) and activate **Padded Cell**. By sending one card to the graveyard, I can summon **Hatta **in attack mode (ATK: 1900) and combine them to create **Mad House**! (ATK: 2800) Kill that Koala!"

The great beast, now resplendent in foam-like pads leaped, it's claws tearing away at the poor koala, who screamed as he was obliterated, the shards rocketing hard over Maddie, a small cut appearing on her cheek (LP: 3000).

Wiping the blood from her face, she activated **Tungsten Trap**, calling up **Cobalt Cat Combatant** (ATK: 1000) but before she could do anything else…

"I activate the field spell **PHSYCIATRIC WARD**!" The see-through walls rose to the domed roof, creating a sealed enclosure around the duellists. Too angry to be intimidated, Maddie fused her monsters with **Hydrogen Bond**, creating **Sodium Sidewinder** (ATK: 2500) then sacrificed some life points to use the snakes' ability to re-summon **Krypton Koala** (ATK: 1800).

"By sacrificing my koala, I can revert the attack points to Sodium Sidewinder for one turn (ATK: 4300). Attack!"

William was blown back by the force of his destroyed monster, his clothes receiving a few tears emerging on his clothes, life points now at 2500. Suddenly, the snake was bound by white tape, and writhed pitifully on the floor.

"Wha-?"

"Psychiatric ward places a straight jacket on any attacking monster, they are dangerous, are they not? And now you should be put out of your misery." Great white tape bound around Maddie's waist, squeezing her hard.

"Now, my **Mad House **is re-summoned to 'look after' that snake, and I shall summon **Hay-Or **(ATK: 1500) once again to keep him company. Treat them nicely boys…" he cackled as the two beasts went for Maddie and the snake, robbing her of all but 400 life points, and her spirit.

Maddie hit the back wall and slid down, gasping in real pain. There was something wrong with this duel. She stared out at the spectators, who cheered happily. Where they enjoying the fact she'd just flown through the air and landed in a heap?

"Help me, PLEASE!" she cried out to anybody out with the bubble cage.

"They can't hear you, only I can help you," William announced calmly, the tapes wrapping her up like a pupa, constricting around her. At least her duel disk was free, but she was rapidly loosing the drive to continue…until she drew.

"**Redox**! I draw two cards…face down, and activate…**Golden Grouse** (ATK: 300)." She screeched in pain as her newest monster arrived on the scene. William was laughing so hard and wildly, he couldn't hear what Maddie was saying. He only saw, when it was much too late, that Maddie had managed to stand, the tape fallen around her. Looking to the face down card, Sapphire Sword, he realised she'd cut herself free, and given the grouse a massive level up.

"By sacrificing himself, Golden grouse takes out your life points, regardless of any monsters on the field."

Williams's life points hit zero, and the duel was terminated, but the cage did not disappear. Now, it would appear that, throughout the entire duel, no one had seen the real physical injury until now.

"Something's wrong, I can feel it." Kara whispered as she watched her sister sway.

Maddie had never felt so ill. Hot and sticky, she tried to take the disk off, but it was like moving through frozen mud. Her limbs deadened while she moved them, and only took two steps before she plummeted to the ground, bouncing once and rolling. Pandemonium broke out, as Kara ran to the spell, trying to free her.

"I can't get through, she's stuck!" Kara cried, her fists banging on the walls of the field spell. Behind her, there was a flash of white light. Enveloped in the crushed diamond spotlight, Riolu stood tall, his eyes flashing with anger. The light swirled around him, lengthening and strengthening his muscles, carving his jaw into a more defined, mature one. The light faded to reveal...

"Lucario..." Kara murmured, disbelieving. Lucario gave a bark, "LUCARIO, LU LUK!" and created an orb in his hands. "Aura Sphere!" She cried. Lucario slammed the sphere into the wall, and it disintegrated. There was a surge of males towards William, and between them, they quickly had him pinned to the ground, Will laughing hysterically. Girls screamed and milled around Maddie in confusion, unsure if she was alive. Lucario cradled a weeping Kara into his chest, having now surpassed her in size. Syrus felt he was running underwater as he reached Maddie, cradling her head in his lap.

"She's cold as ice," he whimpered to Jaden, who held two fingers under her nose. Maddie was deathly pale white, corpse-like, and still. Jaden sighed in relief.

"Maddie's breathing, I felt it."

Maddie was immediately wrapped up in her uncles' jacket, lifting her as if she weighed no more than a rag doll and carried her away, Syrus, Jaden, Kara and Lucario in hot pursuit. Boy, was William in for it now.

**Authoresses' Blah Blah Number…14**

Meh…this chapter sucks, I knew it wasn't good to do a whole duelling chapter, but I suppose it comes with time and practice, so it wasn't that bad for a first attempt. "Wait a minute!" "Wait a bally minute wummun!" I hear you screaming at the monitors "She's done duels in previous chapters!" yeah, I have, but only bits, never a full one. So, you have your explanation. Right, forewords and onwards to chapter 16, which I wrote as a thing I thought up in my bed before I'd even decided to write this story.


	16. Where to now?

_OMG, this is the penultimate chapter of My Shining Knight…I cried for a good half-hour when that finally sunk in, I can't believe I've almost finished this story, and I only started it on the 19__th__ of November of last year (2009). Oh…My…God…. Well, this chapter won't get written while I'm blubbering and whittling on like this, let's get onto the chapter!_

Maddie didn't know if she was lying down, standing, falling or flying. All around her there was nothing but black.

"Sy?...Kara? Jaden? Anybody?!" she called, timidly at first, into the darkness. No one replied. "I'm alone...all alone..." she whispered. Suddenly, without warning, she felt a breeze, pushing her forwards, or maybe it was sideways, Maddie couldn't quite tell. Still, she allowed the air current to push her along. The black just continued endlessly. She stared about in fear, and her eyes spotted something. A figure lying face down. It was her knight. She smiled as she ran to him. His armour was on, but it was dented and broken in many places.

"Come" he murmured to her, rolling onto his back. Maddie knelt down beside him, straightening out the folds of her white dress. He gently pulled her down across his torso, allowing her hands to feel their way across the dents and scratches to his shoulders, where they rested. Maddie closed her tired eyes, dozing slightly, feeling herself rise and fall with the knight's gentle breathing.

"Maddie...." someone whispered in the darkness, "MADDIE!" She leapt into a sitting position. "Who's calling me?" The knight sat up in front of her, his arms about her waist. His visor had been broken, revealing the lower half of his face. Lips curling into a small, familiar soft smile, he spoke reassuringly, "I'm calling you. You have to go Maddie." He stood up, taking her too. "NO! Don't leave me!" Maddie cried, flinging herself over him like a towel. His right gauntlet caressed her cheek lovingly, "Worry not, dear heart, I'll never leave you. I promise." he gestured to a small fragment of light in the distance, which turned out, on closer inspection, to be a white butterfly, with electric blue spots along the edges of it's huge wings.

"Follow...follow me!" it called softly, beckoning with it's wings. Maddie took a step forwards, turning her head back. Somehow, the knight was now mounted on his steed. The horse reared, it's rider saluting her before charging off into the dark. Looking at the butterfly again, she gasped to see it had doubled in size...tripled in size...it was banishing the black with it's huge wings. Maddie couldn't be sure, but she thought that the butterfly had turned into an angel, who smiled serenely before thrusting her back into the world of the living.

* * *

Her eyes flickered open painfully. She squinted for a few minutes to adjust. "Aaaah." she said stiffly, trying to make her numb limbs move. Someone shifted out with her vision, startling her.

"Maddie?"

"Jay! You scared me!" Jaden's' head appeared by her side as he sat on the bed, taking her left hand in both of his.

"Sorry, it's just that I heard you moan, and I wasn't expecting it. Your not sore are you?"

"Nah, just stiff. Eeeeeee, gently, gently!" she cried out as he lifted her carefully upwards to prop her up onto her pillows, "I'm glad you're awake. I should get Sy. He was with you all the time, never sleeping. He would've been here right now, but I told him to get some sleep.

"Urrrrrg…how long have I been out cold?" Maddie asked, groggily sipping a glass of water she was handed.

"Urm…about a week," Jaden mumbled, looking away.

"A…. A _WEEK_?! I must be SO behind on work! I gotta start now!" she swung her legs over the bed, starting to ride but fell back with a moan. Jaden patted her hand, rising himself, " You should be more worried about resting, not work. Now, don't you run away, and I'll get Sy!" he grinned, scampering off.

"Run away...hmn, not exactly gonna happen," Maddie mused to herself. The room felt kinda empty without her pokemon, as Kara had taken them to the Ra dorms to look after them. All that could be heard was the "Tick. Tick. Tick." of the clock on her desk. The door creaked open to reveal Syrus. He trudged in, rubbing his eyes hard and yawning. Dark racoon circles masked his eyes, but they brightened immediately as he saw Maddie smile at him.

"Maddie! You're alright!" he cried, rushing to hug her. He looked down at her, small happy tears beading in his silver eyes. Maddie gently brushed some of his fringe out the way and caressed his cheek. "You look so worn out Sy..." she whined, frowning slightly. Sy kissed her forehead, smoothing out the frown, "I was worried about you. I... I was scared you might not wake up." Maddie smiled tenderly, "Well, now you can rest. Come here." She shifted over slightly and pulled Syrus towards her, so he laid next to her, on top of the duvet. She wrapped him in the other blankets, holding him to her as tightly as she could, for she was very weak though lack of food. Sy nestled into her neck, a light blush tinting his cheeks. Within minutes, both of them were sound asleep, for once, neither of them dreaming about anything. Over an hour passed, and Jaden came in, looking for Syrus. He cocked his head and smiled at the two sleepers, and left them to slumber, as they looked so peaceful.

-------

**A few Weeks Later…**

-------

Maddie was now strong enough to move around, and had regained her stability with help from her sister and her friends. Right now, she sat with Syrus on the sand dunes, taking in the spectacular rosy hue of the sunset. Sy had one arm about her waist, fingers entwined in hers, both talking about plans for the future.

"I'll take over my mother's practice. That's been my dream. Kara wants to duel professionally, so she might come back here…"

"Will you come back?" Syrus asked quietly. Maddie shifted to look at him, cheeks flushing slightly.

"Well…no. But because I need to train to become a nurse, but I was hoping that maybe…we could still be together?" he scrolled a thumb over her cheek, smiling gently, "I'll never leave you. I promise." And hugged her tightly.

"_Why am I getting déjà vu here?"_ Maddie thought for a second before leaning in and kissing him quickly.

-------

Walking back to the dorms, Maddie saw her uncle running around distractedly.

"What's wrong uncle V?" she asked worriedly as she approached. He swept her into a massive hug, practically yelling, "She's going to live! Amelia's beaten it back!" Maddie just stood for a while. Finally it sank in, and she began to run about, screaming too. Syrus just giggled at her happiness, thinking back to the sacrifice she'd made all those weeks ago to try and lead her own life. At least William wouldn't bother her anymore. He'd been sent to a secure ward for the mentally disabled, diagnosed as OCD and schizophrenic. Maddie was back to him after a few laps of the dorm and floored him with the tightest hug humanly possible.

"Let's kick ourselves into OVERDRIVE!" she laughed.

**Authoress' Ultra Blah Blah Number…15**

Well, this is the penultimate blah blah for My Shining Knight. This is the one time I can't actually think of anything to say…anyone notice that the knight and Syrus are the same entity? Doesn't really matter if ya never made the connection… onwards to the next chapter don't forget to review! :-D


	17. I Remember, Doin' the TIME WARP! XDDD

**TEN YEARS LATER…**

Maddie stood in the hall, in her full nurse Joy uniform (totally qualified), next to the videophone, talking to her now 18 year old sister Kara, who had become one of the best duellists in her bracket.

"I love my boy toy!" Kara giggled, slightly hyper.

"Uh, how does that work Kara? He's older than you, so wouldn't that make you the toy?" Maddie asked, arms folded. Kara looked to the sky, comically thoughtful and serious, "Oh yeah…never thought of that. Lol! Anyway, Bastion and me are in love, so you can't do nothing about it!"

Maddie giggled, "My god, when did your grammar get so bad Kara?"

"When I stopped acting like a stick!" Kara chirped, tugging at the yellow chiffon sleeve of her black velvet top, "Sorry sis, my duels about to start. Must go, say hi to mum. Love ya, byeeeeee!" Maddie smiled and shook her head as the screen fizzed out.

-------

In Blossom town's primary school, as it was a hot sunny day, there were a few girls left within the school gates, playing skipping games.

"Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn a-round

Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground!"

They chanted with excitement as a small 6-year-old girl with short, turquoise hair tied with an orange ribbon, leaped gracefully within the rope, her long sleeved orange and cream gingham dress flapping about her legs.

"MARIA!" The girl jumped out the rope and ran to pick up her rucksack, running to the caller shouting, "DADDY!"

Syrus caught the small girl and lifted her skyward grinning as she hugged him tightly.

"Did you have a good day honey?"

"Yep. Yep!" and she began babbling excitedly, clutching her Buniri plushie in one hand, and took her father's in the other. He slung her yellow, flowery bag over his shoulder and shifted his brief case to the other hand.

"What did you do today daddy?" Maria asked at the crossing as they waited for the green man.

"Well, I had to set some duel tests today, and I've got to mark the papers tonight."

"Aw…I wanted you to teach me!" Maria whined, her plushie swinging back and forth.

"I know you did, but I'll see if I can fit it in after dinner, ok?"

"YAY!" Maria yelled as she thought of dinner, emerald green eyes shining.

When they reached the pokemon centre, Maria kicked off her small black shoes and looked in every room until she found Maddie in the kitchen.

"Mummy!" she cried, running towards her. Maddie swept her up and planted a huge, sloppy kiss on the child's cheek, who made a great show of rubbing it off.

"And Buniri! Buniri wants a kiss too!" she presented to toy, Maddie kissing its head too.

"I'm making dinner just now, go see if Obaba wants anything, hmn?" Maria scampered off, side stepping her dad, who placed her bag in a chair and followed suit.

"Hey Sy," Maddie kissed her husband as she poured him a cup of tea.

"Thanks," he returned before looking at the mail he'd picked up before fetching Maria, "Spam. Spam. Bill. Poll. Invite. Bill-oooh, invite!"

He handed the white piece of card, covered in golden scrolling ink to Maddie.

"Awwww! Shara and Chazz finally picked a date for the day." There was a knock on the door.

-------

Jaden stood outside of the pokemon centre with Emily, both anticipating the door's opening. Amelia Joy hobbled out with her blackthorn stick and squinted at them slightly.

"Obaba! Looking as wonderful today as usual!" Jaden grinned, kissing the aging woman's hand.

"Oh you shameless flatterer! Away with you!"

"Oji Kun! Oba Chan!" Maria ran out and was lifted by Jaden and had her hair ruffled by Emily.

"Hey there, aint you getting' tall now?" Jaden grinned.

"I'm six and a half now!" Maria's chest swelled with pride.

"You're a big girl now! Hey Maddie!" Emily said, hugging her friend tightly.

"Hey Jay!" Sy called, smiling at his best friend and brother (well, in his heart anyways…), "What brings you here?"

"Well, me and Em are on a road trip, sorta exploring the world, and we just wanted to say hi, so Hi!" they all laughed and enjoyed some time together, but it was soon time for Jaden and Emily to go. As their car drove out of sight, Syrus and Maddie stood in the roadway, waving as they put an arm about each other.

"Life just couldn't get any better, could it Maddie?" he asked, kissing her forehead.

"Oh I don't know about that," she replied, rubbing her stomach pensively, before looking up at him and grinning.

"Bloomin' brilliant!" he exclaimed happily.

**THE END**

_Click onwards to look at the credits! --------_


	18. END CREDITS! XDDDDDDD

**Credits!**

Well, I would like to do some credits, so…

**People**

I'd like to thank:

**Emily:** An awesome friend and sister, you are basically the one this story's written for, you kept me going with it when I just wanted to chuck it into the re-cycle bin, so thank-you!

**Max: **Thank-you for also providing me with support and kindness!

**Jeremie: **You also gave much needed support and kindness!

**KisunaFuji-**Thanks for your review, it was kind of you!

You four officially ROCK!!!

**Films/T.V/Books**

Much thanks to the Yu-Gi-Oh GX T.V. anime (which I watched during a stay at my sisters and at my BFF Beki's. MUST BUY THE DVD'S!) And the Yu-Gi-Oh GX manga. These made sure I was accurate, and wikipedia helped too (though only in dire need!)

Furuba (Fruits Basket) is an amazing manga, and Saki Hanajima inspired Kara.

**Music**

The songs I've used, in order of appearance are:

"Sweet Dreams" by Beyonce

"Bad Romance" by Lady GaGa

"If we ever meet again" by timberland, ft. Katy Perry

"I got you" by Leona Lewis

Thanks you amazing Music writers for your wonderful music. May it continue to capture our hearts and make us feel alive!

**Misc. Thanks!**

To cheese, ice cream, chocolate, mashed potato, yoghurt, cereal, eggs, noodles, ketchup, fruit pastilles, smarties, custard creams and water; I give my thanks. You were great foods to stimulate my creative flow, and pick me up when I was down. Thank-you food!

Thanks to all my mates, you keep me laughing and smiling, saving many a story from the recycle bin, lol!

* * *

Well, 17 chapters… That's a pretty good length, no? I'm officially in the GX romance mood, so, I'll let you guys be *partially* in control. Do you want to see from me:

-A Tokyo Mew Mew/Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's X-Over (Crow/OC)

-A 5D's family orientated story (with one OC, focuses on Faith and Scoop shipping)

-Another GX romance (Bastion/OC, cause the British guy needs some love dammit!)

-A Tokyo Mew Mew/GX X-Over (With Syrus/OC and SPIRITSHIPPING! Whooo yeah! XD)

-A Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's romance (were the cannon have settled down and have families etc. OC/Leo. Yeah, you heard me! With a bit of teenage angst…if I can do angst… _ )

(As you can see, I'm on a X-Over roll now ^_^;) Soooooooo, it's up to you, (and my creativity of course…) I'm most likely to do the TMM/5D's X-over, but vote for your fave in that little review for the credits. Tell me your thoughts now that MSK is finished, did you guys like the ending? Wish it was longer? I might be persuaded (also if my creativity allows) to do a sequel to this one…maybe…like, a little one-shot or short story…

Well, this is Rhia, tellin' YOU that My Shining Knight is OFFICIALLY COMPLETE! PAR-TAY PEEPS! XD OOOOh-OOOOh! (In a high pitch, ya'll know how it goes! ;D lol! )


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